Earth to Remnant
by WhiteNightBlade
Summary: For seven years, Luke Silver and Jack Hell have been doing whatever it took to survive after they've gone through hell on Earth, at least until a deity decides to pull them from Earth and send them to the world of Remnant. Will the brothers-in-arms finally be able to live new lives among new friends, or will their past follow them to Remnant and breed even worse chaos?
1. Prologue - Deity's Gift

**Prologue: Deity's Gift**

* * *

For seven years, Luke Silver and his honorary brother Jack Hell have had sick days, worse days, and weird days. However, that one day had gone from one of those days they could classify as standard to a day that never happened before: a strange day. Whether or not that was good or bad luck they couldn't say, the only thing they knew was that they were in something out of a psychedelic trip. They weren't in a room, but the floor was as flat as a ballroom floor and stretching beyond where they could see. The sky around them was a twisted dark blue like the ocean underneath a thunderstorm. Instead of clouds, there were large spheres that were pulsating as though there was lightning flashing inside each one of them.

"Jack… you didn't try to discover some drug that would work on me did you?" Luke deadpanned to his brother.

"Even if I thought that would be a good idea, Lukey, we both know I'm a shit chemist. No this… I think we've just gotten ourselves into limbo." Jack answered in his natural joking tone.

"For two who've survived what you have, neither of you seem to grasp this obvious in front of your faces."

The voice came out of nowhere, and the two survivors whipped around ready to fight, only to find themselves frozen in shock and confusion to see a wrinkled old man connected to a floating chair. All the skin the two brothers could see was on the old man's face, which was colored an alabaster white while in shining black clothes all over the rest of his body. On his head was a mechanical looking ring that surrounded his face and enveloped the top of his skull, connected straight to the levitating throne by what looked to be computer cables or surgical tubes. He wore a boasting smirk that screamed pride and ego towards Luke, who was the first to snap out of the shock by shaking his head.

"Well then enlighten us, sir, what are we missing that points out where we are? Where are we?" he calmly demanded of the floating man.

"You, Mister Silver, stand in the Realm Between Realms, or what you could call the Web of Worlds. From here, anyone can move from one world, one dimension, one reality, to another. Better yet, it is also the place where people can gain powers from these worlds. My name is Nexus, and I am what you would call a God." the old man declared, still wearing the proud smirk.

At his declaration, Jack burst into laughter, "Ok, maybe the drug part doesn't sound all that unbelievable, though I don't know how we could have stumbled upon those ultimate shrooms while we were sleeping."

Nexus' smirk merely grew into a grin, "Oh I assure you mister Hell, this is indeed, quite real."

The rest of Jack's laughter died in his throat, He opened his mouth again to say something but almost immediately closed it as his mind drew a blank on what to say. He looked to Luke with a questioning glint in his eyes, to which Luke responded with a calm, reassuring glance into his brother's confused eyes. Jack noticed the quiet and reciprocated it onto his own. Luke turned back to Nexus and stared deep into his eyes, looking for any sign of deceit or any secret he might be holding back from them, then when satisfied his gaze lightened only slightly.

"Well then Nexus, if you are the one who brought us into this 'Web of Worlds', then I am guessing you're also the one who can tell us HOW and WHY you did so, can you not?" Luke asked Nexus in a commanding tone.

"Indeed. Using my newfound powers as a deity, I reached into that universe there," Nexus pointed towards one of the calmer-looking spheres colored as green as a leaf. "then I sifted through the universe until I found you two asleep in that run-down factory. Once I found you, I teleported you, for lack of a better word, here to my domain. As to why you are here, it is because I have decided that this world and its version of the devil has been cruel enough to you and I have taken pity on you. Unlike many others, my godhood has not completely degraded my sense of humanity." his face turned to seriousness at speeds even Luke didn't expect.

He did his best to maintain his composure, but inside Luke could feel the mental safe he built beginning to crack and fall apart. For seven years he's had to live with those memories, both the good and the horrible, but both hurt just the same. Jack could see the turmoil going through his brother's mind and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, reminding his brother that he was still there with him. Then the rest of the gears began to turn, "Wait a minute, did you say 'godhood'? What are you saying, that you're a god?"

Nexus merely nodded to the questions, with a look of undying seriousness that gave no reason for doubt to the brothers. Though that didn't stop Jack from regaining his usual swagger, "Well then where were you all those years ago? Back when we could have had a chance for an even somewhat normal life?!"

"I had yet to reach my full potential to bring mortals into this place, even mortals as… gifted as mister Silver. Then I could only watch as you two go from one horrible situation to the next and all the humanity I have left had had enough. There is no godly power that I have to turn back the clock, but the least I could do is send you to a world where you no longer have to worry about only each other and what would be to happen the next day. A world where you can build a future for yourselves.

"Be warned! This world I will send you to is one that you may be only the tiniest bit familiar with; however, it is not much at all like the world you have lived in since birth. It is a world full of monsters and demons, except ones that you can easily defeat and defend others from, even more easily once I grant you your gifts."

"Gifts?" Luke stopped him before he could say any more, "What kinds of gifts? What other world are you sending us to?"

"Mister Silver, I am sending you to the world of Remnant. Where humanity battles against ancient forces of darkness with the tools of their world and the weapons of their souls."

Jack looked to his brother to see if he knew anything about what the old man was saying. He saw Luke had a slight look of recognition in his eyes. However, it was also evident that Luke had no idea where the identification came from, while at the same time, Jack also felt a sense of familiarity from the name, though even he couldn't place it. Luke turned back to Nexus "Ok then, so what do you mean by 'weapons of their souls' and what gifts are you giving us before you send us there?"

"There are people in the world of Remnant, Mister Silver, who train in the arts of what's necessary to protect the world from those ancient dangers. People who have found the ability to access their aura, a manifestation of their soul that can heal wounds as quickly as you, protect them from grievous attacks, give them superhuman strength, speed, and durability that almost match yours, but also a semblance. Their very own form of a superpower, whether it is to mask emotions, control lightning, or get hit and deal back double the damage from the original hit. These warriors also have special weaponry that transforms into something for melee and for distance, such as a scythe that is also a sniper rifle or a sword that is also a revolver."

Jack's face grew a near maniacal grin stretching a mile long, "Ohohoho… boy do I like the sound of that. Imagine the number of chicks I could get with something like that." Luke gave his brother a hard slap on the back of the head as soon as he finished his thought, though Jack's grin didn't look at all shrunken.

After sorting out his brother, Luke turned back to the self-proclaimed god, "Are we also going to get the ability to summon our aura and a semblance? If aura gives people the strength and ability to move like me, then will it give me the ability to move even faster and be even stronger than I already am?"

"Oh hell yeah! Then you can go from being a god among men to being a god KING among men!... and I still won't measure up to you… just great." Jack beamed before he hung his head in fake shame.

"Oh don't worry Hellfire, since I've been training you, you've always been a demi-god among men, so now you can be a godly prince among men while I sit on my throne," Luke smirked at his brother.

Jack just stared at his brother before he raised his brow "Did… did you make a joke?" he felt another slap on the back of his head and just laughed it off.

"Well, to answer your question mister Silver, because of what happened to you, the awakening of your aura will indeed boost your already superhuman speed and strength, however, it will only boost it by little more than a fraction. Mostly because the semblance you will most likely have will take more aura than most peoples', so your aura will mostly designate yourself to it rather than your natural reflexes and strength."

"So then will you unlock our auras before we get there?" Luke asked.

"I'm afraid not. You see, the unlocking of one's aura can only be done by one who has unlocked aura themselves. While I may be a god, I do not have unlocked aura. Therefore I cannot unlock other people's aura, nor their semblances. Semblances, after all, are not so easily unlocked. For some that I know of, it was unlocked during training, another in intense stress, and another when struck by lightning. It's believed that a person's semblance is defined by who they are as a person, while some believe there is no correlation. Which is true or not even I cannot say."

"So you're saying that you will send us into this world full of ancient evil monsters and people who swear their lives to the protection of others from these monsters without the tools that they use?" Jack agitatedly asked the old man.

"I never said that mister Hell. I cannot give you the 'powers', that they use, but what I can give you is the choice for your very own weapons. Your armor, however, should you ask for it, will be decided by me."

The two brothers looked to each other with the same hesitant looks. The only ones that they have had to rely on or trust was themselves and each other. They've never had to or chose to trust or put faith in another person and believe that they would do what is best and right for them, but with all that this floating old man had told them about himself and the place they found themselves in, what real reason did they have to not trust the man. After a minute, Luke looked back to Jack with an accepting and reassuring nod, telling Jack he thought all was going to be ok. The brothers turned back to Nexus and gave him their nods of acceptance.

"Very well then. Mister Silver, what weapon or weapon would you like me to give to you? Just picture it or them in your mind, and you shall find it with you when you arrive on Remnant."

Luke closed his eyes and tried to think of what weapons he would be best with, but also what kind of weapons would be less conspicuous on Remnant. After some thought, he finally kept his thoughts on his father's old Walther P99 with a silencer, his Ka-bar 1245 Tanto knife, and he delved into his imagination to put together a poly-weapon that would seem reasonable in Remnant. That poly-weapon ended up being a longsword, the blade being four feet in length and the handle one foot long. The edges were six inches wide and an inch and a half in width, a spade at the end of it, and six wings just above the handle, three on each side of the blade and pointing towards the hilt. The hilt was squared and curved downward and spikes of their own protruding from the ends, and the pommel of the handle spherical with small dragon wing shaped spikes pointing in the same direction as the other spikes. Finally, he closed his eyes again and watched it transform into a semi-automatic assault rifle with devastating armor piercing and hollow point rounds, and when back in sword mode, can split in half into two swords.

As he opened his eyes and looked to his host on the floating chair, Nexus smiled, "Fitting choices mister Silver, and what will you call the poly-weapon you have created?"

It didn't even take a minute for Luke to come up with a name for his little masterpiece, "Ragnarok."

Nexus' smile grew extensively. "And you mister Hell, what will you use in the world of Remnant?"

Jack closed his eyes, his mind picturing a gauntlet on his forearm morphing into a round metal shield like a medieval knight's, and the Ka-Bar Becker tac tool BK3 that Luke made him carry around. Finally, two three-foot-long, ragged blades that genuinely looked like fangs, the handles being eight inches and the blades lighting on fire, freezing over, and turning white while creating a vortex around each one of them. Jack's smile stretched eight miles long as he imagined each one turn into a large pistol shooting semi-auto and full auto, before being put together to make a sniper rifle. Jack's eyes opened, and his smile turned manic, "Oh I'm good now."

"I can see that you are mister Hell." Nexus chuckled, "And what would you call these blades of chaos you've made for yourself?"

Jack turned to Luke with a mischievous look in his eyes and a manic chuckle that made his brother jokingly lean away from him before turning back to the old god. "Hellfire," he raised his right fist, "and Brimstone" and his left fist.

Luke's eyes widened, and he looked into his old friend's eyes to find respect and admiration all over his eyes. That was also when he felt a bout of admiration and respect, more than he had for anyone ever before. He remembered the years when they were children that they played, explored, and got into trouble together; everything they did, they did together. Then there was the day seven years ago, the day when everything changed, except for the promise they would stick together no matter what. They weren't brothers by blood, not at all related, but they always have been, and still will be, brothers.

Nexus noticed this little brotherly moment and let it be for a moment before interrupting, "Now then, you both have chosen your weaponry that you'll carry in Remnant, and now I must ask, would it be your preference to have armor of any kind before you find someone who can unlock your aura?"

They both looked to Nexus after a few seconds and agreed to receive armor as well as weapons. "Then when you arrive in Remnant, you shall find yourself wearing said armor that I have chosen for the both of you and with your weapons on you."

Luke gave a grateful nod to the deity, "I don't have any words that can match the gratitude we feel for you giving us this chance to find purpose in another world, away from these memories."

"Of course… but before I send you there, I should let you know, to unlock your auras and semblances, I suggest you both head towards Beacon Academy, in the Kingdom of Vale. There you will find the perfect place to learn how to control your newfound power once it is unlocked and learn how to best protect the people of Remnant from the monsters that plague them. The rest then is up to you. Your choice."

A massive gateway appeared behind Nexus and began to shine brighter than anything the brothers in arms had seen before.

"Once we get there Luke, I swear to god I'm finally going to find you a girlfriend. You hear me?"

"It's impossible not to hear you Jackass. Just promise you'll stand with me like always, alright?"

Jack nodded to his brother, and they leaped into the gate, beginning their new adventure in a new world, unaware that their past would catch up with them and be a defining factor in their new future.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Hey everyone, welcome to my first story. I hope that you'll enjoy this little sneak preview and look forward to what's to come. Again, this is my very first story, so please go easy on the reviews, but I definitely encourage you to leave suggestions and constructive criticism.**

 **Once again, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Special thanks to SunWukongMogar and BlackLight181 for being my first beta-readers and helping me with the whole thing.**

 **Last disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any TV Shows/Movies/Comics/Books/Video Games I reference. All I own are my OC's.**


	2. Chapter 1 - From Earth to Remnant

**Chapter I: From Earth to Remnant**

* * *

At Beacon Academy, there have been good days, there have been rough days, and then there have been days that go from good to weird, to weirder, then to flippin' awesome. Such as one particular day, after all the chaos that ensued from confronting Roman Torchwick with the White Fang. First, they found themselves in an all-out food fight in the cafeteria, which they had a blast with, then they ended up stuck in their dorm rooms for the rest of the day.

That was when the day going well turned into the weird day when they say a giant tower of blue and gray light strike the ground with a loud slamming sound deep in the Emerald Forest. The girls of team RWBY all looked to each other with the same confused and curious looks, same with the members of team JNPR, before they were all summoned to the Headmaster's office.

As they entered the room, they found the old headmaster, still with his silver mop of hair and emerald coat and pants and mug filled with nothing that isn't coffee, sitting at his desk with his hands together at the fingertips and naturally in deep thought. By his side was his blonde, buxom second in command, Glynda Goodwitch, in her usual tight white button-down shirt and just as tight black skirt with leggings.

Then they noticed a new face in the room, one that they had never seen before, save Weiss. He appeared towering over the rest, looking to be six-foot-four, wearing a white Atlesian military uniform with a red tie and white gloves behind his back. There was what seemed to be a small metal patch above his right eye, though no one could tell what the piece of metal was or what it might have been covering. He had a predictable military cut of dark black hair with grey on the sides, and steel blue eyes that looked like they were staring into the souls of all the students present. He glanced over to Ozpin and looked ready to say something but the Headmaster raised his hand to silence the tower of a man before he could even say anything.

"Students, for those of you who don't know him, this is General James Ironwood of the Atlas military and Headmaster of Atlas Academy. Though you are not here to meet him." the blonde combat instructor announced in a "strictly business" tone as she turned her attention to the two first-year teams in the room.

"Then if you don't mind us asking Headmaster Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch, why are we here?" asked team JNPR's resident ninja, Lie Ren.

"Look Prof if this is about that little scuffle in the cafeteria, it wasn't that bad, just a tiny elementary food fight." spoke up the buxom blonde brawler of team RWBY, Yang Xiao Long.

Professor Ozpin put his coffee mug to his mouth to mask his grin before teasing the brawler, "My dear Miss Xiao Long, I eagerly await the day when you find someone who is able to catch the heart of an adventurous thrillseeker such as yourself."

"Then he could be able to stop your horrible puns. Or maybe teach you to make better ones." Yang's partner, team RWBY's very own cat Faunus kunoichi smirked, while the brawler waved off the two.

"Yeah well sorry to disappoint you two, if there were anyone who would be willing to do something like 'improve' my already perfect sense of humor then I'd be interested, but unfortunately, every guy wants me for this package you see here." she gestured to herself.

Ozpin chuckled at the little argument taking place in front of him before Glynda coughed to get their attention, "Headmaster, students, now is most certainly not the time for fun and games. As to answer your question mister Lie, you are here because we want you to investigate the beam of light that shot into the Emerald Forest."

"Um… no offense Headmaster, but why do you think it should be two teams to investigate this?" JNPR's leader, Jaune Arc asked.

"Well, mister Arc, it's because that after the light struck the forest, there has been an increase of Grimm activity and it seems that they are all headed to the striking point of the light. Your mission is to investigate and to bring whatever or whoever the cause might be to the Headmaster. Understood?" Beacon's deputy Headmistress answered.

The teams looked to each other with varying degrees of worry, excitement, and curiosity. They've been sent on missions together before and have gone on plenty of dangerous missions chock full of Grimm, but one in the Emerald Forest? With all the Grimm gathering in one place where some weird beam of light from outer space struck the planet? Is this Jack's manic laughter broke ita job for first-year teams? Then again, the eight of them have been through more than most. All doubts and concerns were put aside rather quickly when they were brought out of their heads by the beckoning voice of the combat instructor.

"Come now! Aren't all of you supposed to be huntsmen and huntresses in training? You do what's to be expected of you. We expect you to investigate this." Goodwitch said.

"Don't worry Ms. Goodwitch! We'll do whatever it is you ask, and we'll do it better than you expect!" team RWBY's leader, Ruby Rose, declared in her usual childish manner; much to Ozpin's amusement and Ironwood's unseen annoyance.

"Of that, I am sure Ms. Rose. Before you head out, however, take this with you." nodding at her superior, Glynda handed Ruby a small piece of metal, "What you have there, Miss Rose, is a tracking device for a small surveillance drone to follow. With the drone following you, we will be able to see everything that you see. It also has built-in movement sensors to register any movement made by anything other than the eight of you."

The two teams, minus the resident Atlesian, were in awe of the excellent example of Atlas' ingenuity and technology, "Now do hurry along, all of you. The bullhead will drop you a few yards away from the exact spot, and it will be leaving in five minutes so I'd start running if I were you." Ozpin chuckled again.

At that, the two teams rushed out of the office and nearly jumped into the bullhead. While running, they kept discussing why they would be sending two first-year teams to the forest and what that light could have been. As they were getting on the bullhead, they all felt a chill run up each of their spines. They turned back to the forest, and each one had the same gut feeling: something or someone powerful is about to be discovered.

* * *

"He… ack… we're… ake… piece… shi… WAKE UP JACKASS!" Luke ordered to Jack before he kicked his brother awake.

"GAAH! WHAT THE HELL MAN?! I THOUGHT WE WERE PAST THIS! NO MORE PUNCHING OR KICKING ME AWAKE UNLESS FOR EARLY MORNING TRAINING OR FOR PAYBACK!" Jack shouted back.

The two stared each other in the eyes until Jack keeled back in laughter like a madman and Luke began to laugh. That's when Luke stopped chuckling and looked to his brother, and he liked the new look. He was still in the same black tactical combat jacket they got on the black market but on top of it was plate armor pauldrons on both of his shoulders and more plates running down the outer side of his arms down to his hands. The best part was that they had flame patterns that fluctuated like real flames. Of course, then he was still wearing his jeans with the extra pockets and kevlar knee pads he sewed in himself, his fingerless black combat gloves, and steel-toed combat boots. Hellfire and Brimstone sheathed on his back, his gauntlet to turn into the shield on her left forearm, and his becker tac tool on his belt.

His brother looked like a badass in the outfit, although none of it beat the literally flaming armor down the arms of the jacket.

"Well, Hellfire looks like you're living up to your nickname even more than before," Luke smirked at his friend, who laughed even harder until he looked at his old friend, which stopped his laughter cold.

"And yet here you are showing me up again like it's your reason for freakin' living. COME ON MAN! You look too badass for your own good!" he mockingly shouted.

That's when Luke looked to himself and even he had to admit; he DID look badass. He had on a white sports shirt and above that was a grey jacket, what sort of looked like a pampered down and hoodless hiking jacket, then he felt he had a large, military issue backpack slung over his shoulder.

He looked further down to see he was in his usual black cargo pants and sneakers reaching above his ankles, colored the same grey as the jacket and black like the pants; there was a small bit of composite armor on the outer sides of his thighs. Then he looked at his hands and saw he was wearing the same fingerless combat gloves as Jack, black with an opening on the backs. Finally, he saw his ka-bar in its sheath on the armor on his left leg, his P99 in a holster patched onto the armor piece on his right leg, and as he felt the hilt of Ragnarok on between his back and his pack, he grew a small smile, looking forward to trying out a poly weapon.

"Well then… we're here so… what now? Do we look for this Beacon Academy that Nexus mentioned or test out our weapons?" Jack asked in as much of a serious tone as he could muster.

His question got answered when they heard a low growl and looked around to find themselves surrounded by what looked like five dozen beowolves and ursa. The two brothers put their backs to each other and slowly turned counterclockwise to face all of the Grimm that surrounded them. One of the beowolves leaped out at Luke but soon found itself on the other side of the forest. The rest turned to see Luke's right fist outstretched where the beowolf was.

Jack scoffed as he looked over his shoulder to his friend, "You haven't even unlocked what they call 'aura' yet, and you're already showing off. But anyway, shall we… mon frère?"

"Let's."

* * *

Teams RWBY and JNPR were walking through Emerald Forest for about five minutes until they caught up with a pack of beowolves, all of them headed to the same place. Ruby spoke into her scroll to the two teams, "Alright here's the plan: Ren and Blake stick to the treetops as we follow the pack from behind. Once we get there, we wait and see what they're after, ok?"

The teams nodded into their scrolls and responded with ok's, then they followed along with the pack.

"So what do you guys think we'll find? Pancake monsters from outer space? A meteor full of pancakes?" Nora, JNPR's hammer-wielding heavy hitter, manically raved into her teammates' ears.

"Nora, I doubt that there would be anything in outer space made of pancakes." JNPR's spartan, Pyrrha Nikos, chuckled at her friend's antics.

"Well, then what is it that we're expecting to… to… … whoa…" RWBY's heiress, Weiss Schnee began.

Yang turned to her sister's partner with a confused look, "'Whoa'? Since when can the princess say something so simple?"

Weiss said nothing but pointed to the clearing right in front of them. When everyone turned in the direction to see what she was pointing at, their eyes went wide with surprise and curiosity. In the middle of the clearing were two tall guys, both looking to be six-foot-one, with thick dark brown hair but each with a different haircut, one wearing a mullet with a fade, the other with a usual looking short haircut just reaching his jacket collar. The one with the mullet had a well-built body, though not quite that of a bodybuilder, a narrow chin, square jaw and had two ragged looking blades in both his hands and his armor looked like there was a fire inside of it.

They saw the two surrounded by at least five dozen beowolves and ursa, then suddenly one single beowolf jumped at them, and before any of the Beacon students could move to do anything, they watched with eyes as wide as saucers as the other one punched the beowolf in the face. It was sent flying away from them and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

That was when all eyes turned to the other one, and also when Yang realized what got the princess to stutter. As if the one in with the mullet wasn't handsome enough, the other one put Sun's partner to absolute shame. He didn't have the same outstretching hair as his friend, but it was just as thick, he also had a somewhat leaner body than his friend, but it almost looked as though he was even more muscular. He had what looked like the most masculine face structure there could be, even more than his friend, and a military tactical backpack with a sword handle sticking out between him and the pack.

When they all looked at his grey jacket, his cargo pants, and his gloves, they couldn't help but wonder what team CFVY's leader, the fashionista Coco Adel, would say if she were to see his fitting style. They pushed those thoughts aside when they realized what they just saw and couldn't stop staring at the one with the outstretched fist. Ruby began to blush as red as her cloak, Weiss' mind went blank, not knowing what to think yet, Blake started to picture the stranger as a samurai and her in a yukata, thoughts which she immediately shook her head at to dispel.

Then there was Yang, whose heart began to race as fast as her bike. That was until the other boy's voice broke them all out of their thoughts. When they heard him say that neither of them had even unlocked their aura yet, they were all thinking how that could be possible. Then they got back to reality when the one that punched the beowolf away drew one of the most terrifying longswords any of them had ever seen. He held it in one hand, then with a voice that sounded so deep that it could have come from the ocean, the two charged into the packs.

* * *

First, six beowolves went after Jack, in a tightly formed ring. Jack merely smirked before letting go of the handles of Hellfire and Brimstone, grabbing onto the chains welded onto the bottom of them. With a single movement, he leaped into the air, spinning at a diagonal angle and slamming the blades down on one of the beowolves. Then Jack wrapped the chains around his forearms and swung the beowolf on the end of the daggers into the rest of them that surrounded him. His smirk grew more prominent when he activated the pistol modes for Hellfire and Brimstone, proceeding to fire at the beowolves as they flew a few meters away from him.

"HEY, I GOT SIX! HOW MANY YOU GOT MAN?" Jack yelled at his brother as he turned to see a beautiful sight.

Luke didn't bother answering as he continued doing what he was doing. He propelled himself out of the trees and faces of the beowolves, slashing at them at high speeds. He saw a dozen bodies beginning to fade away by Luke's feet then watched him cut two ursas in half with a single upward strike of Ragnarok, then leaned his upper body backward as a larger beowolf leaped to slash at him with its claws. Before the back of his head could hit the ground, Luke leaned back up and grabbed the beowolf that charged him by one of its hind legs, twirling it through the air before he threw it with enough strength to break its neck with a loud CRACK and send a dozen beowolves and ursa falling back. Before he could let his guard down, three more beowolves sprung at Luke's back, only to quickly be slashed apart in one horizontal swing. "I lost count at twenty a few seconds ago," he shouted back.

"Have you even" Jack slashed right, "tried out" then slashed left, "the other mode on the sword?" Jack shouted while slashing at the beowolves that jumped at him.

"Oh right!" Luke charged and stabbed an ursa in the chest, forcing it onto it's back, "It's just been too long since I've used a sword! Been having too much fun."

Jack turned back to his friend with wide eyes and a teasing smirk, "Did you just say you're having fun?!"

Luke stood up on the fading body of the ursa, glared at Jack and groaned out loud, "Oh bite me Jackass!"

"HEY!" Jack jokingly shot back.

That was when the ground began to shake slightly, and the Grimm started to back away. Suddenly a giant ursa major burst out of the woods with a ferocious roar that made the beowolves and smaller ursa back away in respect towards the major. It's body a pitch black fur with giant white spikes protruding from its back and claws and a mask the same white with red eyes and runic patterns on its face. It was unlike anything either of the earthling brothers had ever seen before. The major got on its front paws and let out another roar, bringing the beowolves into a group howl and group roar from the rest of the ursa.

"Uh, Luke?" Jack asked while staring at the beast, "Is Remnant a realm from Norse mythology or something?"

Luke looked up to the major and tilted his head before answering back, "Well, I'm not all that sure, but I can see why you'd ask that."

Luke then jumped off the rapidly decaying corpse and stood next to his brother, turning to him he strategized, "Switch your weapons to sniper mode and aim for the knees, then once it's immobilized, aim at its eyes and the rune on its forehead."

"What about you? What will you do, get me an opening?" Jack turned to his friend with concern evident on his face.

Luke turned and gave him a reassuring smile, "I'll be pulling a few hits and runs with Ragnarok in sword mode, just make sure you hit the sweet spots when you need to. Oorah?"

Jacks concerned look was replaced by one of sheer mischief and confidence, as it always does when Luke gives the word, "Oorah."

Luke drew back Ragnarok, resting the blade on his forearm and pointing to the side. He bent down getting ready to charge and darted to the major's left and slashed at its arm. It let out a loud growl and swung its front right arm towards Luke, who launched himself off the side of the tree he landed on. Luke kept himself from staying in one place, darting from treeside to treeside, a patch to piece of ground, and moving like a bullet, all the while slashing and stabbing the major's legs with movements just as quick. As he predicted, the major kept trying to cut at him with its front legs and paws, all while keeping itself balanced on its hind legs.

Jack watched at a distance through the scope of his sniper rifle; he couldn't afford a moment of distraction to his beautiful masterpiece of a poly-weapon. As Luke kept the front legs of the major moving, he was leaving small openings for Jack to fire at the rear kneecaps, both of which Jack was able to disable with only two shots. The only thought going through his head was gratefulness that he talked Luke into training him every minute of every day for the past seven years. Once Jack neutralized both kneecaps, Luke stopped moving right in front of the major, his back facing Jack. While he stood there, the major lifted its head to roar and bit at him, only to see him staring it down with a look of unbreakable defiance. It scared the major, in turn scaring the surrounding Grimm.

"DEADSHOT!" Luke roared like a commanding lion, followed by another shot from the sniper rifle.

Like a living being on the brink of death, the major let out a final roar of unbridled rage and fear until the bullet hit it in the target of a rune on its forehead, silencing it for good. The impact of the bullet forced the head back as the white skeleton-like part broke to pieces, flying through the air. As the body fell forward, Luke stood his ground and sheathed his sword behind his back, though not moving another inch as the body fell straight toward him… only to land a few measly feet from him. When the body hit the ground, it shook and almost immediately began to slowly dissolve away into black dust. Luke turned to face the surrounding Grimm with a glare that could rival looking into the double barrel of a shotgun, making them run away from the two who just took down one of the biggest Grimm in the forest in less than a minute. Luke let out a sigh and plopped himself down on the ground.

"Nice shot Jack, I'm glad you chose to make your poly weapon a sniper too." Luke turned over his shoulder.

"Yeah well, I couldn't do it without you distracting it and giving me an opening. And look, I know that you're already above average in all physical categories, to put it mildly, but you're still mortal. Just make sure you don't take all the risks, okay Luke?" Jack knelt in front of his friend with another concerned look in his eyes.

Luke smiled at his friends care and concern for his well being before smirking teasingly, "You already take the biggest risks hanging around me pal."

Jack smiled and stood back up, "Yeah well, I still gotta even the score on life saves and I still gotta prove I'm more badass than you are. That and I still need to get you a girlfriend for the love of-"

Luke's palm found the back of Jacks head before he could finish the thought, eliciting a laugh out of the head-slapped joker. "Well then what now? Do we keep looking for this 'Beacon Academy' the old man mentioned? I mean, it's not like we have anywhere else to go right now."

"Very true." Luke responded, "Though I think it would be a better idea to wait until the six people watching us from those trees back there and the two from the trees here and there to show themselves."

Luke raised his voice at the last sentence and pointed to the three spots in the trees around them, forcing a small 'EEP' from the direction of the first six he mentioned. Jack just shook his head, "Again. Show off."

A few seconds passed by, and still, no one came out to confront them. Eventually, Jack got tired of waiting for the audience to decide what to do, "Look, we already know you're all there, whoever you are, so you might as well come out! We don't bite… well at least he doesn't!" he pointed towards Luke, who put his hand to his low hanging face and gave an exhausted sigh.

There was a sound like leaves fluttering in the wind, and Jack turned to see a short girl in a black corset-like dress, skirt and a red cape. Her hair was as black as her clothes and the tips of her hair as red as her cape. Behind her was a trail of rose petals that were slowly beginning to fade like a Grimm's remains. She just showed up so suddenly that when Jack turned around and saw her, he jumped back in an almost comical manner. She made a small bow to the two.

"We're really sorry for not showing ourselves sooner, but we were sent her to find out why the Grimm were surrounding this area. Not to get involved or anything." the Little Red Riding Hood clone apologized.

'Some dark version of Little Red Riding Hood? Dark creatures called Grimm?' a single glance between the two earthlings gave each the same thought, 'We're in a fairy tale world, aren't we?'

"Don't worry. All's forgiven. Oh, also, Grimm? Is that what those things are called?" Luke quickly replied to the apology, the last part of which put a confused look on the girls face.

"HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT GRIMM ARE?!" another voice screeched into Jack's ear.

Jack fell onto his back with ringing in his ears, same with Luke. The latter regained his senses first and looked up to see another attractive girl, only a bit taller than the first. She had long, dull silver hair in a ponytail on the right side of her head. Her clothes were the same white as Lukes jacket, except her coat was smaller, shorter, and more like the kind of jacket worn on top of a high-end dress, which it looked as though she was also wearing. The hem of her skirt seemed to even be in a pattern of endless snowflakes. Luke immediately realized that she was some version of Snow White, taking in the whole "snow" theme.

Jack soon regained his senses shortly afterward, though the little sonic boom did nothing to change his personality, "That was the loudest thing I've ever heard, and I've been in the front row seat of a Greta Van Fleet concert."

The white-clad girl wore a look of shocked frustration and looked as though she was getting ready to chew Jack out. At least until Luke coughed to get her attention raising his hand before she could speak, "I'm sorry about my friend there, and I'm sorry we aren't making much sense to any of you, but even I have to admit that was somewhat uncalled for."

The girl in question looked even further appalled and turned away from the two with a frustrated scoff. All the while, the near-redhead was keeping herself from letting out some built up laughter. Luke and Jack looked over to where the almost silent laughter was coming from, and the little scene brought genuine warm smiles to the two. The redhead then looked back and saw the two boys smiling, delivering a healthy blush to her face. Jack's smile quickly moved back into his usual smirk, "Ok. Well, since that's over with, CAN THE REST OF YOU JUST COME OUT ALREADY?! NOW YOU'RE BEING RUDE!"

With that, the rest of the spies revealed themselves in the patch of grass to the earthlings, and they were the most diverse looking friend group the two had ever seen. From the two trees came a tall ravenette wearing a tall bow on top of her head, a long black sleeve from her forearm to below her shoulder on her left arm, black wraps around her hands, black leggings that had some sort of symbol on them, and what looked like a white dress shirt under a short black suit. When her golden eyes locked with Luke's hazel, she turned away with a dense blush and while Luke kept his cool on the outside, in his mind he mentally facepalmed himself, knowing just what lied ahead if Jack caught that. All while that was going on, Jack was trying to figure out what fairy tale she could've been from, seeing as how it was turning into a pattern with the two people they've seen up to that point

From the other tree came an eastern looking boy with long black hair in a ponytail down the middle, unlike the snowflake girl. There were a few strands of pink hair down on the left side of his head, right next to his pink eyes. He also wore a green tailcoat with black lines down the edges of the robes, white baggy pants, and black boots. To Jack, he looked half ninja and half samurai, to Luke, he kept thinking back to old Chinese history classes and watching Mulan with his parents.

The last four figures came out of the woods one at a time. The first was a tall, lean guy with a mop of blonde hair, scuffed up jeans, black boots, and underneath a chest piece and two shoulder pauldrons was a black hoodie. Luke and Jack looked at him and saw an absolute lack of confidence in the way he stood. It was a sad sight for the two brothers. Next walked out a tall, beautiful girl with long crimson hair in a ponytail. Rather than leggings, her legs were decked out in armor, along with her chest and stomach, and what looked like a tiara on her forehead. Unfortunately, or in Jack's case, fortunately, the top of her chest was still plenty visible, along with her shoulders, though her forearms wore the same armor as the rest of her. She looked like an Amazon warrior, both the earthlings couldn't help but picture her in the same outfit as Wonder Woman.

Almost immediately, a burst of pink and orange shot through the forest onto the patch, revealing another short girl with the weirdest colored hair either of the earthlings had ever seen: carrot orange. She wore a short pink skirt, white sleeves like the ravenette's, a black sleeveless jacket and a white shirt with a heart cut out at the chest area. Neither of the two earthlings could think of any fairy tale with an orange-haired speedster girl.

Just when they thought they had seen everything and everyone, what could only be described by the two as an angel strolled out from the woods. She had what could only be described as a glorious mane of golden hair that reached past her waist and mesmerizing lilac eyes. She wore the shortest shorts the two brothers had ever seen with a transparent skirt looking cloth behind her reaching down to her knees. She also wore thick heeled boots that reached up to her knees, a purple bandana tied around her left knee, a short jacket that left her stomach and large chest wide open, it being barely covered by an orange cloth with an emblem over her left breast, and finally two golden bracelets on each wrist.

It didn't even take them half of a minute to figure out that she was this world's version of Goldilocks, either that or one of the beautiful valkyries from the Norse mythology Luke loved so much. When she looked at the two, she quickly looked Jack up and down, but when she looked Luke in his eyes, she gave him a seductive wink and waved her fingers. Jack expected the ever so stoic and silently suffering honorary brother of his to just give a little unfeeling smile like always, only instead to see him give her a small but genuine smile and nod his head. To anyone else, the action wouldn't mean much, but it spoke volumes to Jack.

'FINALLY! Oh, this is going to be so much fun!' Jacks mind was exploding with thoughts and plans from the revelation he came to.

"Well hey there strangers, you must not be from around here huh?" The blonde girl spoke up in a fake cowgirl accent.

"Yeah well, another universe entirely doesn't exactly count for 'around here' I'd imagine." Jack chuckled, much to Lukes annoyance.

"Um… what?" the smaller girl in black asked in confusion.

"Did you have to say that so bluntly? I mean did you need to say it like that?" Luke chastised his brother while shaking his head.

"Alright look, I know this isn't going to sound at all believable to any of you, but my friend here is right. We are, literally, from another world." Luke decided to explain the situation as fast as possible to the group.

There wasn't a single face without wide eyes full of shock or confusion. Eventually, however, the orange haired girl spoke up, "So… does your world have people made of pancakes or at least waffles?"

A small silence loomed over the group as they comprehended what the naturally hyper girl had asked until it was broken by Jack's manic laughter. He laughed so hard his back hit the ground, and he was holding his sides, struggling to breathe through the seemingly unending laughter. Luke just gave a blank look at his dying friend as he rolled back and forth on the ground, mentally laughing just as hard at the absurd question he was just asked. Then he turned to the girl who asked the question, wearing a slightly more amused face, "Um, no we don't have people who are made out of pancakes, we just have regular pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes and a bunch of other kinds of pancakes, some really ridiculous like pineapple and papaya pancakes, but no people pancakes."

A feeling of dread washed over the Remnant kids as they turned to see their friend with a manic grin and a bit too much energy threatening to escape. "Did… you just say… that your world has… FRUIT PANCAKES?! RENNY! YOU MUST ASK FOR THE RECIPES POSTHASTE!"

The eastern looking boy, now known as Renny to the two earthlings walked over and held his hand out to Luke, "Well whatever world you're both from, it's nice to meet people from another world. My name isn't Renny by the way, it's Ren, Lie Ren."

Luke took Ren's hand and respectfully shook it, "The pleasure's all mine." then the revelation sunk in, "Wait, is the fact that I mentioned we have pancakes with fruit the only thing you needed to hear to tell I was telling the truth about us being from another world?"

Ren nodded, "Well it was enough for my friend Nora and I, since we've never met anyone who's done that" he gestured towards the orange haired girl going on about pancake revolution or something, it was hard to tell at the speed she was talking, "though I'm sure the rest will need some more confirmation. It is quite the dubious claim to make of course."

Jack managed to calm down somewhat, though when he stood up, he still let out a few strained chuckles and more ragged breathing. "We… heh… we come from a place where people put FRUIT IN their pancakes, whose weapons are guns OR swords, "

The ones of Remnant looked to each other with the same questioning glint in their eyes until Luke spoke up again, "Look, we don't know much of anything about this world, other than the fact there are some people here that use something called 'aura' to fight against some dark creatures like these things. We were… plucked, for lack of a better word, out of our world by some deity, who gave us our armor and these… poly-weapons. Then he sent us here to make our own lives or unlock our aura or something."

"If what you're saying is true," the blonde in the hoodie spoke up, "then why did the deity choose you two to come here?"

The two earthlings looked to each other, trying to see if the other had an idea on what to say. Neither wanted to admit what they went through on their world, the individual hells each one had to survive and live with.

Before the rest could catch on to the silent debate the two were having, Jack beat them to it, "We, uh, went through a rough time for the longest time and us surviving it was like passing a test for the deity, and he decided it would be best if we were sent here… I think..."

The others were about to protest when Jack raised his hand to silence them again, "Look, I know you probably want to know everything, but there are some secrets that we would prefer to keep locked in the closet so to speak."

They all nodded their heads in understanding, though it was quite apparent to the two earthlings that they wanted more, and Luke decided to provide, "Well anyways, my name is Luke, Luke Silver. This," he then gestured to his fellow earthling, "is my old friend Jack Hell, and the world that we are from is called Earth. I guess in a way you could say we're pretty much like brothers after everything we've been through together. What about you guys, what're your names?"

The cloaked girl smiled as she stepped up to Luke, "It's very nice to meet you, Luke and Jack, my name is Ruby Rose, over here is my team, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and my sister Yang Xiao Long."

Yang gave Luke a sultry smile and leaned in closer to whisper, "But you can call me whatever you want big boy~" she ended with a wink.

Luke smirked right back to her, "Oh I'm sure I can come up with something in time, Sunny's just a bit too obvious."

Jack stared at his brother, dumbfounded, while Yang's sultry smile turned into a surprised grin, "Wow, how did you know that was in my name?"

Luke grinned back, "The language that your name is in is a language on Earth as well, though I imagine it's called something else here."

The ravenette, now known as Blake, moved between her partner and the earthling, stepped up to Luke and Jack offering to shake their hands, which they obliged. "It's very nice to meet you too. Sorry about my partner here, she can be a bit of a handful sometimes."

"Oh trust me, I don't mind one bit." Jack grinned with a smooth, toothy smile.

That was until Luke head slapped him, though not before he could finish his sentence for once, not that it mattered since it just switched his attention to his honorary brother, "What? You jealous? It's about time, considering all you got to offer a girl."

Luke shot him a glare that could rival a specific blonde combat instructor's death stare; only Jack just kept laughing in his face. Yang looked away and quietly snickered to hide the blush creeping onto her face. This did not go unnoticed by her team, each of whom had varying reactions to yet another small revelation. Ruby was dumbfounded, never in her entire life had she ever seen her sister act so embarrassed or shy, she just couldn't believe it. Weiss wasn't quite as shocked as Ruby, though she was thoroughly surprised to say the least, slightly pleased, but also slightly annoyed, though she didn't know why the latter. Blake wasn't as shocked as Ruby but far more than Weiss, though looking back towards Luke, the Faunus girl could understand why her partner would be acting like that. As her mind drifted even more towards Luke and his friend she turned her face away so they couldn't see how big her blush was becoming.

After the little banter, the other blond walked up to Jack, "It's nice to meet both of you. My name's Jaune, Jaune Arc. You've already met Ren and Nora, and this is my partner, Pyrrha."

The redhead, Pyrrha, stepped forward, waving her hand "Hi there! Nice to meet you."

Jack stepped forward with a warm smile and shook each of their hands, "It's nice to meet all of you. Not every day that people who spy on you actually introduce themselves like amateurs." he grinned devilishly at the last part.

Everyone aside from Luke, Ren, Nora, and Yang blushed from the sudden accusation. Meanwhile, Jack smirked at the little bout of chaos he caused, Nora giggled, Yang laughed out loud and both Ren and Luke but their hand to their face in annoyance to Jacks antics. As the blushing ones in question started to stutter apologies, Luke lifted his hand to stop them and told them, "Just ignore him, he's always like this. There just isn't any off switch to his personality."

The first three women of team RWBY nodded in understanding as they turned to face their brawler, who stuck her tongue right back at them. Jack noticed this, and a look of panic came to his eyes and just kept his cool enough to keep from blurting when he said, "Don't get the wrong idea, however, if he's able to tolerate me all these years then I know I'm still doing somethin' right."

Luke shook his head in faux annoyance, lifted by the kind-hearted laughter from the Remnant students, then that ended by the exclaiming gasp from RWBY's little leader. "OH! I completely forgot! Didn't you guys say something about looking for Beacon Academy?"

Luke and Jack both quickly looked to the little reaper with serious looks, the former saying, "Yeah, why do you ask?"

Ruby raised her hand with pride as she shouted, "We are students from Beacon Academy! We can take you there!"

The two Earthlings grew their warm smiles back at Ruby's exclamation, until Weiss elected to be less generous and just scoffed before uncaringly ordering at Luke as if he was a dog. "Whether or not you want to, you're going to have to since our headmaster sent us here to find the cause of that ray of light striking the ground."

Everyone grew surprised looks at the heiress' sudden hostility to the seemingly friendly stranger. Yang may not have been grinning, but she still found a way to land some teasing, "Geez Ice Queen, why so cold all of a sudden?"

"Headmaster Ozpin sent us here to bring back whatever caused that column of light, we've found them, now we still have a mission to do." Weiss scoffed back to the brawler.

"Well, yeah but, they've been so nice Weiss. I don't think you needed to be so icy when they've been so warm!" Ruby tried to chastise her partner, only no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull off the angry glare.

"It's ok Ruby. We know how it is. Also, now that I think about it, it may be best if we go to Beacon with you guys, that way we can learn more about this world." Luke said as he eyed Weiss wearily.

"Well, he thinks it's time for us to rejoin humanity, so who am I to argue. Plus, most of you seem nice, and it's been a very long time since we've been with nice people." Jack smiled at the Remnant kids, most of whom smiled back.

"Alright, people! Take us to your leader!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **And here is the next chapter, where we get a few gears moving regarding the story. So the thing is, I already had this chapter written out, or mostly at least, so that's how I was able to post it a week after the prologue. However, life is about to get busy for me again so I definitely won't be able to post anything weekly. Sorry about that.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next segment of the story and look forward to what's to come. I can't say for sure when the next chapter will be added, but I will make sure it will be when I'm sure it's ready.**

 **Once again, special thanks to SunWukongMogar and BlackLight181 for being my beta-readers.**

 **Finally, feel free to leave a review and some constructive criticism, it's always very much appreciated. 'Til next time!**


	3. Chapter 2 - Getting Accommodated

**Chapter II: Getting Accommodated**

* * *

"So let me get this straight, in this world, there are four 'academies' where kids with their 'aura' unlocked go to learn how to protect people from these 'Grimm' monsters. Did I miss anything?" Jack asked when he and his brother found themselves in the courtyard.

"We also learn how to use our semblances, study the Grimm, and train to fight in the Vytal Festival, where select teams from all the academies compete in a tournament style competition," Weiss added in.

With the addition of information, the earthling brothers started doubting their earlier theory of being it a fairy tale world and began thinking that they landed in a sci-fi version of Harry Potter. Jack was about to make a few jokes about telepaths in wheelchairs or retractable metal claws, but Luke kept him from doing so when he asked his own question, "If having aura unlocked is a requirement then will we even be accepted?"

"Seeing as how you were able to dismantle a pack of beowolves and ursa major and move the way you do without aura, I'm certain they'll make an exception," Pyrrha answered with a polite smile. "Also, if you want, we can try to unlock your aura."

If Jack's grin would have gotten any wider, then it would split his face in two, "Yes, please! I'd like a superpower please!"

"Renny, I get the feeling we're gonna get along with these two just fine~" Nora chuckled at Jacks antics.

Ren and Luke just looked each other in the eyes, smiled and shook their heads. They had to admit that Nora was right, their two pairs were somewhat similar.

"Well come on guys! We have to get to the Headmaster if we're gonna get you two in here!" Ruby called everyone out from the front door.

"Right. Lead the way Ruby, we'll be right behind you!" Luke shouted back to the little red reaper.

When they were walking down the hallways, they found them to be completely empty, much to the entire group's confusion. Eventually, they just shrugged it off and continued walking to the Headmaster's tower. Luke and Jack weren't exactly enamored with the building, but it did put them at ease to be calmly walking down a school hallway instead of running from gunfire in a derelict shell of a building with rusted lockers. They shuddered at the memory but made sure the Beacon students didn't notice.

Eventually, they reached an elevator, they all piled in then headed up to the Headmaster's office. Once they reached it, the two earthlings gazed around the clockwork kingdom with confused faces. They've been in all kinds of different rooms for torture, but none of them would have driven them as insane as they knew that room would.

"No offense to your Headmaster, but I have no idea how he would willingly subject himself to a crazy room like this," Jack said as he looked around.

"You'd be surprised how much it helps with being on time." a voice came from behind a desk, summoning the boys' eyesight to the Headmaster, Ozpin.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to put you two on edge, please I bid you take a seat." Ozpin gestured to the two chairs placed in front of his desk.

As Luke and Jack shook hands with the Headmaster and took their seats, teams RWBY and JNPR moved to the back of the room, waiting for their new friends to tell their tales to Ozpin. Little did any of the teens know that they weren't the only ones watching and listening in the room. From his flagship, General Ironwood was patiently observing the meeting through a camera sending footage to his computer. At the same time, Glynda Goodwitch was watching through her scroll in her combat classroom, and Ozpin's chief scout, Qrow Branwen, was perched on a tree branch in his human form, looking on on his own scroll.

"My name is professor Ozpin, and I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. Who might you two be?" the emerald wizard asked after a long sip of coffee.

"The name's Hell, Jack Hell, and this dude here is my honorary brother, Luke Silver." Jack answered, "Look, we know this isn't going to sound believable but-"

"You're from another world, in another universe," Ozpin stated in a matter-of-fact tone, causing Jack to stop cold and Luke to raise an eyebrow.

"I had a surveillance drone following my students as they arrived at your location. We saw the battle you two were engaged in and heard your conversation with my students." Ozpin answered the unasked question.

"And who is 'we' exactly?" Luke asked in a cautious yet edged tone.

The tone took the Headmaster by surprise, though none could see it on his masterful poker face. "My deputy headmistress, Glynda Goodwitch, and my fellow headmaster, General James Ironwood."

Jack snorted and tried to cover his mouth, but the damage was already done, and eventually, the walls fell, and he began to laugh like a madman. "Luke! It's the Wizard of Oz, the Good Witch of the North, and the Tin Man without a heart! All that's missing is Dorothy, the Brainless Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion!"

Luke's palm met his forehead, and they swayed side to side in annoyance, while the students became confused and the headmaster stiffened up for a second. Meanwhile, a specific combat instructor also shook her head, hoping she wouldn't have to deal with yet another boisterous student this year. The Atlesian General's fist curled at the comment, feeling as though the "tin man" was directed towards him, though the accuracy of the statement did put him on edge. He began to wonder what else the two earthlings might unknowingly reveal. While Goodwitch and Ironwood were starting to worry or get frustrated, Qrow was laughing like there was no tomorrow at the accuracy of the remark towards Ironwood and Haven Academy's headmaster, Leonardo Lionheart.

"Please excuse him, headmaster, but before you ask the question, the names are very similar to a story from our world." Luke preemptively replied.

Ozpin began to think carefully about his questions, realizing that either they indeed were from a different universe, or they could be agents of Salem taunting Ozpin right in his face. The latter of the two possibilities seemed more realistic, but he knew Salem wouldn't allow anyone so reckless to be one of her followers, especially if they were going to attempt infiltrating his school. Eventually, after Jack's laughter began to wind down, Ozpin decided to give the two the benefit of the doubt and see what would happen.

"Well, I look forward to hearing more of your world's shows and entertainment. However, at the moment, I would prefer if you were to answer my questions now. I'm aware that you've answered a few questions asked by my students here," he gestured to the two teams by the elevator, "I'd prefer to hear you answer those questions in person."

The brothers looked to each other, then as if they had just communicated via telepathy they turned back to the headmaster and nodded.

Ozpin wasted no more time and got straight to the point, "So you say you're from another world, what is this world called?"

"It's called Earth, and it's part of the milky way galaxy. A galaxy is a group of solar systems huddled together. That's how it's described on Earth." Luke immediately responded.

"Interesting. Are there Grimm on Earth?" Ozpin eventually asked after a minute of thinking.

"No sir, there are no monsters like the Grimm on Earth. The only things that could be qualified as monsters are evil human beings, you know, 'bad guys.'" Jack jokingly responded.

For a minute, the Remnant-born people in the room forgot how to breathe. It was a near-impossible dream, a world without any Grimm at all, a world where people could expand and live anywhere without the fear of being mauled the next day. Then the second part of Jack's answer registered in their minds, and their hopes went out the window. Blake especially took it hard and looked down at the floor in sadness. She began to wonder if there was any hope for unity if even in a world without Grimm, people could not be brought together and make peace. Perhaps the Grimm would be the only chance for unity if people deemed the threat more critical than their bigotry and racism, but that still didn't seem to be happening any time soon.

"I'm sorry to hear that, even without Grimm it seems that racism against faunus wins out over logic." Ozpin shook his head in disappointment, then looked up to see the two earthlings wearing confused looks.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean faunus? What are those?" Jack asked with serious eyes and a confused face.

There was a beat of silence as everyone let that sink in until eventually Blake spoke and stepped up, "Faunus, people with an animal appendage and senses."

Another beat of silence followed as the earthlings let that information sink in, "Hold up, hold up." Jack raised his hands up, "You're saying that, in this world, there are human beings, with things like tails, ears, horns, and scales? Like those on animals?"

Blake nodded, then the brothers turned to each other with blank faces, until surprisingly, Luke broke the silence, "That is quite possibly the coolest thing I've heard in a long time."

"Ditto. Imagine if I had gills, I could breathe underwater. OH! What if I had wings?! That'd be so badass!" Jack exclaimed with raised arms.

The hidden faunus in the room stared awestruck at these two boys who had never heard of faunus a minute ago and instead of instantly hating them, they accepted them with the most metaphorically open arms she had ever seen. Suddenly the frown turned into a wide smile at the acceptance these two had shown towards something they haven't even seen yet. All the other students smiled as well at the earthlings' attitude, though Weiss tried to hide it. If any of her teammates had to guess, she probably didn't want to show any kind of unbecoming curiosity towards the two strangers. Though they had broken through the racism bit, the Ice Queen was still a bit rough around the edges.

"No Grimm and no faunus, yet there is still crime and evil. It seems that no world can escape that fate." Ozpin mused to no one in particular.

"It's just human nature, sir. If there's one thing Jack and I have learned, there will always be darkness alongside a light in someone's soul. It's just that some people give their soul to the darkness." Luke tried to throw his own wisdom into the professor's thinking.

The words sunk into each person in the room and stuck with them, though it didn't have as significant an effect as it had on the adults in and watching the office. "Wise words mister Silver, how did you come by such words?"

"Experience," Luke stated pointedly, perking Ozpin's brow up and piquing his curiosity even more.

"And what is your experience?" before the two earthlings could attempt to escape the question, Ozpin continued, "If you wish to be enrolled at my academy, then it would be helpful to know what kinds of students I'm allowing into this school."

While a certain blond knight began to shrink out of sight, another blonde and her team along with the other members of their sister team leaned in to hear. After a minute of silence, Luke let out an explosive sigh and looked dead into the emerald wizard's eyes, "Then do I have your word that none of this leaves this room, meaning everyone watching through that camera in the corner doesn't hear this either?"

The two teams' heads all darted up to the corner of the room and, sure enough, there was a camera in the corner of the room. Glynda's eyes widened at the fact that Luke had seen the camera when it seemed as though he didn't even look in its direction. Ironwood's face didn't give a reaction, but in his mind, he was as surprised as Glynda, though he was also rather impressed with the boy, that he would not only notice the camera but demand something from Ozpin, of all people. The next thing the observers knew, their screens went blank, and they decided to wait until the feed came back, in case there would be more to see.

"You have my word, the only ones who will hear these words are the ones in this room," Ozpin reassured the earthlings after remotely deactivating the camera.

Luke put his hand to his head in contemplation, until his brother gave him a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I'm right here Luke, it'll be alright if you can't."

A few seconds later, Luke nodded to his fellow earthling and turned back to the professor, "For seven years, Jack and I have been on our own, moving from place to place, doing whatever it took to survive each day. Before that I was born into a special project for the military, supposedly created to discover how to better humanity's balance between rationale and instinct. Unfortunately, its purpose turned out to be to create the greatest human weapon in the world… the greatest killer.

"The project had multiple test subjects aside from me, though we were all the same; born into an inhuman program, subjected to each and every kind of physical and psychological torture technique known to man. Out of all the subjects, I was the only survivor. I wasn't only the sole survivor, I was the sole success, and one hell of success at that. By the time I was five years old, they were preparing to send me on missions in war zones and unstable nations on the brink of collapse."

There was not a single face in the room that showed any emotion other than sorrow, anger, or disgust. Ozpin closed his eyes and brought his mug back to his mouth, taking a long sip to hide the grief and disappointment in humanity he could feel trying to escape through his eyes. 'Just how far could we have fallen?' he began to question.

"Before they could though," everyone snapped back to attention as Luke continued his story, "I was rescued from the program by one of Earth's greatest warriors. He infiltrated the program and saw what they were doing to me, so he destroyed the facility and took me under his tutelage. I wasn't the only one he taught, his lessons and teachings were where Jack and I first met, as his students, and eventually, his sons. I had already been taught every possible way to kill, attack, basically everything an assassin does, and he taught both of us how to be better, how to attack for something other than a single nation's interests. He taught us how to defend good people. How to be like heroes. His name was Bruce Wayne."

No one noticed, but at the mention of the name, Jack drew in a large breath and grew a tiny smirk. "For the next five years, we were Bruce's students, his sons, until he went on a mission and never returned. His enemies found us the next day, then Jack and I had no choice but to go on the run, and we've been running ever since. We had been running for seven years, each day training, running, and doing whatever it took to survive."

Luke's head lowered in shame, his voice becoming little more than a whisper, "The things we had to do… I could never forgive myself…"

Jacks hand gripped his brother's shoulder again, only a bit tighter than the last, then he picked up where Luke left off, "We had gotten involved in multiple crime factions and mafias to keep ourselves fed, but we always did our best to make up for it. We did many questionable things to stay alive, and we stayed alive so that we could live long enough to make up for our sins."

Ozpin nodded before he took his next coffee sip. The man had lived countless lives, met countless kinds of people, and he had met people like the earthlings before him. With all his experience, it was easy to see that they genuinely regretted all the evil they had done, as necessary as it was. He found no deceit in their words, and let his guard down to feel empathy for the two.

"Didn't you guys have or meet anyone that helped you or took you in?" Ruby suddenly asked, her eyes begging the brothers to confirm her hope.

Luke and Jack looked back towards the little red reaper with solemn faces, "Yes. Some people had offered to take us in, give us a place to live. Although we could never stay because our presence in their lives put them at great risk. Too many good people were caught in the crossfire between us and some evil people after us."

"Yeah, what he said." Jack spoke up after Luke, "Bruce's enemies found out about us and chased after us. While we could definitely take them down, there would have been too much collateral damage to make it any sort of win."

Ren and Nora were very conflicted, they too were orphans and all they ever had after the destruction of Kuroyuri was each other, but they never ended up doing anything evil. They realized that while Remnant had the Grimm, Earth did not, and perhaps without the readily apparent evil of the Grimm, the dark forces of Earth were more elusive and covert so it couldn't be accounted for. They shuddered to imagine such a world where such selfishness and darkness was manifested in everyone, where good is in scarce supply. Then the few people with goodness in their hearts would end up paying the ultimate price for it. They looked from the two siblings being interrogated by the headmaster to each other, an unspoken promise to help their fellow orphans in their mission to redeem themselves. They seemed to have been through too much already, they deserved the time to be better.

Pyrrha felt her heart fall apart from Lukes poor tale. In a way, she knew what he had lived through in the beginning, expected to be perfect and invincible, but she would be lying if she could understand everything. It was always her choice to fight in tournaments, it was still her choice to be a duelist. It may not have been her choice that her drive to win would put her on a pedestal, but Luke never had the decision in his life to be something other than what everyone else saw him as.

Jaune didn't know what to think. If each one of the thoughts running through his head were measured by an amount of water, they would drown the whole world. He felt terrible for everything the two earthlings had to go through to survive, he was somewhat curious as to what this "Bruce Wayne" had taught them, and he was so angry that there was such a world where they had no other option but to resort to whatever dark choices they must have been forced to make. He thought about his seven sisters back home and his resolve to become stronger and more powerful nearly tripled. There was no way in hell he was going to let such a world come to pass and his family be forced to live in it.

Ruby fought as hard as she could to keep the tears that pooled at the bottoms of her eyes from falling. She was only a toddler when she lost her mother, and that void she left in her life, along with the few memories of her Ruby had, was what put her on the path to be a huntsman, to be a hero like the two earthlings wanted to be. Luckily, she still had her father and sister to look out for her and keep her from becoming as lonely and desperate as her two new friends were. Ruby wanted to just rush over and give both of them a hug, but she wasn't sure if it was going to make a difference. She decided to do so once they were done with the meeting and Ozpin decided whether or not to enroll them, though she was hopeful.

Blake and Weiss both stayed quiet and kept their emotions from showing, although it was evident to their friends that their heads and feelings were as hectic as the rest. The heiress had only just begun to believe in the prospect of redemption after the reveal of her teammate's true heritage. Only, after hearing the earthlings' stories, she wondered if even they believed they were redeemable.

While Weiss was sorting through her thoughts of the earthlings' redemption, Blake thought back to her past, to her own mistakes. She wanted to believe there was a chance to redeem herself, though deep down, there was a part of her that would not let her think that. After their stories, Blake made up her mind, she was going to find a way to redeem herself, whatever it took. After all, if the two aliens had lived for seven years, their only reason being the prospect of their own redemption, then she could find a way to hope for herself as well.

Yang had never given any deep thought to her name meaning a dragon, but with her anger boiling over, she figured it was because she had developed the wrath of one. Her fists were curled so tight that if her aura were not doing its job, she would be drawing blood from her own hands. She uncurled her fists, breathed in a long breath, and her eyes reverted back to their normal color of lilac before she spoke up, "Well, you two don't have to worry about that anymore. You guys said the deity that sent you here did it so you could have a chance for a new life, so I doubt your mentor's enemies followed you here."

Luke looked back at the brawler and nodded in gratitude with a smile, then he turned back around to Ozpin before he could see the faint blush on her face, "She has a point."

"A deity sent you here out of pity? Tell me, was his body manifested with light?" Ozpin leaned in with his question.

"No, he was this old, wrinkly looking dude with chalk-white skin, a shiny black suit, and sitting on some floating throne. He called himself 'Nexus,' and he actually said he pitied us and decided it would be best if we came to a different world where we could do some good." Jack answered with a shrug.

"He explained to us that he would give us our clothes and weapons, but we had to picture our weapons and name them in our minds. Then he opened a portal and the next thing we knew after we walked through it, we ended up in that forest. In our normal clothes and with the weapons we imagined." Luke answered.

Ozpin nodded as he took another sip of his coffee, "And what about your aura? Did he unlock it?"

"No, he said all he could do was give us our weapons and such," Jack responded

"You are aware that if you wish to go here, you are going to need your aura unlocked?" Ozpin explained with observant eyes.

"You said that you watched our fight, if so, then does that rule really need to be met?" Jack smirked.

Ozpin grew a small smirk of his own in return, "I suppose not, considering how skilled the two of you are, although it would ease many peoples' conscience if the both of you had your aura."

Jack took up a fake pondering look before shrugging, "Fair enough. Besides, I did say I wanted a superpower, so I'm down for getting my aura. What 'bout you Luke?"

Luke took a bit longer than Jack, but eventually, he gave his own shrug, "As long as I'll be able to control it then sure."

"Before I do allow you in my school, however," Ozpin suddenly brought all attention towards himself, "Will you two be able to look me in the eye and tell me that you have not lied or kept anything more hidden from me?"

Any and all of the cheerful atmosphere from Jacks joking personality left the room and in its place came a tense silence. The staring contest creating the tension was between Luke and the emerald wizard, while Jack looked between the two with a worried expression. After about a full minute of silence, Luke gave a single nod, without any sound slipping from his mouth. Once more, a minute of tense silence passed, the students of Remnant beginning to worry. During the second minute of silence, however, the camera was switched back on, and the observers looking back towards their screens. Even from a video feed, the tension was easy to detect.

Eventually, Ozpin let out a soft chuckle and sipped his coffee before his next words, "Seeing as how there is nothing you two are showing that would lead one to disbelieve you, I can't find any legitimate reason to not take you for your word, welcome to Beacon Academy."

Luke and Jack looked at each other with their own versions of dumbfounded faces, not even noticing the reassured sighs and smiles from the two teams behind them. After a few seconds, the two earthlings nodded to each other and turned back to the headmaster. "Thank you for your hospitality and trust headmaster, only one question: where will we stay?" Luke asked the wizard.

"You, mister Silver, will be staying with team RWBY, while your friend, mister Hell, will stay with team JNPR," Ozpin answered nonchalantly.

The two earthling brothers in arms looked back at the two teams to see their faces decked with surprise, though Jaune managed to snap out of it to welcome Jack with open arms. Qrow, still watching from his scroll, began to laugh like a madman at the situation the two boys; specifically Luke found themselves in before wheezing "Dammit Ozpin!"

Glynda put her hand to her forehead, as if to heal a migraine, "Something tells me this will not go as well as you think headmaster…"

Ironwood kept himself from thinking anything until he heard a response from Luke, seeing as how Jack walking over to Jaune and shaking his hand made his opinion known, "I don't think that will work for me headmaster."

Everyone, even those not in the room, turned their attention to Luke, whose palms had found the top of Ozpin's desk, "I may not know about any kinds of exceptions to this, but where I come from, it's customary to allow women their privacy if they're all together. If my staying with team RWBY is a sacrifice to their privacy and comfort then that won't work for me."

Luke let out a deep sigh before he continued, "Look, I am able to sleep anywhere, from a ground of stone or wood to even that of a desert so I could handle being with team RWBY, but if they can't handle a guy sleeping in their room, then I won't bother with it."

Ruby rushed over and gently grabbed his arm, bringing his attention onto her, "We really appreciate your concern, but we've talked about it and seeing as how you're more concerned with our comfort, we're sure that it will be okay if you stay with us. In fact, we insist on it, as far as we're concerned, you're our friend, and we want to spend as much time with new friends as we can."

Luke looked back up to Ruby's team to see Weiss looking away, her head held high, and her eyes shut like some sort of princess too important to bother with this little discussion. Luke could tell that she was trying to seem uninterested or cold to him out of pride or something similar, though he didn't pay it any mind, unlike Jack, who was silently seething at the way his brother was being treated by this ice queen.

Blake looked away in embarrassment with a flushed face, though Luke could tell there was a minuscule phantom of a smile on her face, reassuring him that while embarrassed, she still was ok with the idea.

Then there was Yang, who winked at Luke and gave a sultry smile. It didn't take long for Luke and Jack to realize that's just a part of the brawler's personality, though Luke, being the ever so dense brickhead that he was, didn't give any thought to the pink tinge on her cheeks that Jack had noticed.

"Are you sure Ruby? Seriously, the last thing I want is to impose anything on you." Luke smiled at the little reaper.

Ruby merely gave an even warmer smile back, "Yeah. You can tell us some more about your homeworld! It'll be so much fun!"

Luke and Jack both chuckled at the childish innocence that jumped out from the small girl before them. It had been so long since they had to deal with anyone of that nature that it was so refreshing. "Ahem."

Everyone turned back to the headmaster, who set his mug down on his desk before he spoke up, "Then misters Silver and Hell, would you kindly head down to the lobby while I talk with your new teammates?"

The earthlings nodded in confirmation, but just before they re-entered the elevator, Ruby sped up to them with sparkling eyes, "We promise, you won't have to go through what you two went through on Earth."

Before either could reply, they suddenly found themselves in a hug with the little reaper. Jack immediately hugged back while Luke looked like he had no clue what to do. After a few seconds, Ruby pulled back with a deep blush, "And welcome to Beacon Academy."

The brothers in arms nodded and stepped into the elevator, slightly uncomfortable silence in the air. That was until Luke spoke up, "No cameras or mics. Go ahead."

"Bruce Wayne? Really?! I mean of all people, Bruce Wayne?" Jack exasperated to his brother.

Luke turned to look Jack in his eyes, "It was either that or John Wick."

"Well, in all honesty, John Wick actually sounds like a name that would be believable here. That and, well, you made us sound like Robins. You were always Batman, and I was Nightwing. You were the one that taught me everything but I wasn't your sidekick, I was your equal."

"I know you have more to say, so just say it." Luke looked away and up above the elevator door.

"Honestly the only other thing I have to say is that I'm surprised how much of that was actually true. In all the stories we told back on Earth, you never mentioned the program."

"Yeah, I guess it wasn't all that difficult to talk about here."

Jack grabbed Lukes shoulder and turned him, so they were face to face, "Look, I'm happy that you didn't mention our families. I'm somewhat skeptical about how you made Earth sound like it was a small step down from Hell. But I just wish you could find a way to talk about him and what he did. I know this is hypocritical coming from me, but seriously, some things need to be said."

Hazel eyes stared straight into chestnut brown, neither one of their eyes moving until the elevator door opened, and Luke stepped out, "This world already has monsters, why turn their attention to another world's devil?"

* * *

Once the elevator started heading down, Ozpin spoke back up to his two first-year teams, "They are indeed hiding something."

All the students turned to their headmaster with either confused or worried looks before he elaborated, "I have had many experiences in this world, and I am certainly able to tell when someone is hiding something from me. However, I'm certain that the reason their hiding something isn't because it will be harmful to others, it's because it would be harmful to them."

Ruby tilted her head in even more confusion, "What do you mean professor?"

"I mean that whatever they are hiding, they are only hiding it because it would be too painful to talk or think about again. Those two are hiding some sort of trauma." the emerald wizard explained further.

Teams RWBY and JNPR looked to each other, concern clearly evident on their faces. Those two humans had mentioned a torturous program, the loss of their father figure, and being on the run for years. What could have been even more painful to say? They all shivered at the possibilities that passed through their minds, each one worse than the last.

While the students shared looks of worry, the adults, both in and out of the room, had different looks. From seeing the worried looks on the students' faces, Glynda could only guess that whatever the earthlings told them was horrible, but if there were even more awful memories that they were keeping hidden, then their sanity could be called into question. Ironwood may not have heard what the two boys told Ozpin, though his curiosity had won against his worry, and all he could think about was whatever they could have said to the wizard. Qrow decided he was better off not thinking about the two at the moment and flew off to continue his scouting mission. Though he still carried worry towards his nieces, since a boy was now living in the same room as them.

Ozpin just took another sip of coffee until RWBY's heiress spoke up, "Do you wish for us to find out what they're hiding headmaster?"

Ozpin's eyes flicked up, and he took the mug from his mouth before replying, "No. If they wish not to think about it, then we should not force them. Let them get used to their new living situation and perhaps, in time, all will be revealed."

Weiss was about to speak again, but Yang beat her to it, "Yeah. Come on Weiss. After all, tall-dark-and-hot volunteered to be somewhere else if it meant we would be comfortable. Why shouldn't we give them the same concern? I mean, we didn't corner Blake and force her to reveal she was a bit catty."

Everyone turned to Yang, at first going to comment on what she called Luke, but they thought about what she mentioned and realized she was right… then the pun registered in their minds and they all groaned.

"Ms. Xiao Long has a point." Ozpin gathered everyone's attention back towards himself, "These two are your new teammates after all. Treat them as you treat your family, after all, here at Beacon teams are, in a way, to be like an extension of your family. Also, have a member of each team unlock their aura. Perhaps miss Nikos, you could unlock mister Hell's aura, and miss Xiao Long unlock mister Silver's."

The two teams nodded in confirmation and went to the elevator to meet with their new teammates, and once the door closed, Ozpin looked towards the camera, "I decided to bring them in, and we shall meet about it in due time. We will talk about it another time, though for now, let them get accommodated.

"After all, coming to another world is quite the adjustment to make."

* * *

 **A/N: HOLY HELL THAT TOOK TOO LONG!**

 **I'm so sorry it took so long to actually put something out. I meant to have this posted last week but then everything else in my life got the better of me. With all the work coming my way again and all this other crap in my life right now I barely have time to write.**

 **I felt really bad about going so long without posting so I quickly finished this up and went ahead with it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get it to SunWukongMogar or Blacklight181 to beta-read, so there are probably quite a few mistakes in here.**

 **Once again, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in for a while. With everything going at once right now I definitely won't be posting anything on a schedule. The best I'll be able to do is update every few weeks.**

 **Anyway, please be sure to leave suggestions and some constructive criticism. It helps me a lot with my writing.**

 **'Til next time!**


	4. Chapter 3 - Awakening

**Chapter III: Awakening**

* * *

When the two teams came down from their headmaster's office, they found their two new teammates leaning against the wall, looking through their… scrolls?

"Wait, how did you two get scrolls? We just got down here?" Ruby asked, making the two earthlings look up.

"Honestly, we don't know. We just looked in our pockets, and they were there." Jack answered before turning back to Luke, "Looks like Nexus gave us more than our armor and weapons."

Luke nodded, and a small look of realization appeared in his eyes, "Now I'm a bit worried about what he might have put in the bag." he pointed his thumb to the backpack.

"Well before you guys check, maybe we should head back to our dorms. Help you get settled in and what not." Jaune spoke up.

"Sounds good. Lead the way Shaggy." Jack agreed while Luke merely nodded again.

"Shaggy?" Jaune was a step above confused.

"A character from a television show on our world. Jack thinks you kind of look like him." Luke explained with a slightly annoyed tone.

Jaune decided it was best to just shrug it off and head for the dorms. His team, team RWBY, and the earthlings followed down the hallways, still strangely empty for some unknown reason. Once they reached their dorm rooms, Jack followed team JNPR into their room, while Luke went with team RWBY. Before they entered the dorms though, they both stayed in the hallway for a minute to talk.

"You gonna be ok without me? We both know what happens when you're up to something without me." Jack smirked with a suggestive edge hidden in his tone.

"First of all, let it go. That was three years ago, and I got out alive. Second, you're literally right across the hall. When I need you, I won't have to go far. As I said before, I want you to still stand with me like always." Luke reassured his brother.

"Alright, let's go meet our new friends." Jack entered JNPR's dorm and closed the door, Luke following RWBY.

* * *

When Jack walked into the JNPR dorm, he was not as surprised by the cleanliness as he thought he should have been. _'Well, it is a school of superpowered teenagers… Wait am I trying to explain why it's so organized and clean or why it shouldn't be?'_

"So Jackie-" Nora began while sitting on her bed.

"NO PLEASE!" Jack interrupted her with a roar, before clearing his throat, "Please don't call me that. I really hate that nickname."

Nora was taken aback by the outburst, but she gave an apologetic smile, rapidly nodded her head in understanding and even saluted. "Will do bossman!"

Jacks face twisted into a confused look, "I haven't even been a student for an hour, and you're already calling for a mutiny?" he then began to smirk, "And for me to be in charge? Aw, thank you, Nora."

Nora gasped at Jacks statement and turned to Jaune quicker than they thought possible for a head to spin, "Jaune I didn't mean it! I'm so sorry for betraying you!"

Jaune should have been given credit, it took him a full ten seconds before he burst out laughing at the effect the teasing had on her. Eventually, he shook it off and patted Nora on the back, telling her it was ok, and he knew she did not mean to say it like that. Nora smiled and enveloped Jaune in a bone-crushing bear-hug, causing Pyrrha to spring forward and try to save Jaune from suffocating. Meanwhile, Jack just chuckled at the ridiculous scene, and Ren smiled at the every-day happening.

Jack turned to the green-clad ninja with his own smile, "This happens too often doesn't it?"

Ren nodded his head in confirmation, they shared a laugh, then Ren recalled the questions he planned to ask his new teammate, "So now that you've seen where you're staying, would you mind if we ask some questions of our own?"

The three other JNPR members immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to their earthling friend. Jack looked back at the three and could easily see their curiosity in their eyes, looking like nothing was going to keep their intrigue restrained. Before they could ask any questions, however, Jack raised his hand to keep them from asking while he thought about what he could and maybe should not answer. Not to mention what to say to keep the lie of his and Luke's origin in play. He moved his hand to his chin and began to ponder what to say, taking almost a minute of silence.

Eventually, he looked back to his new team with a smile, "Yeah, it's no problem. I mean, there may be some things that I can't answer, but you're welcome to ask me anything."

Everyone began to share the same smile and as they all got settled onto their beds and Jack leaned against one of the desks. "So let's get started. One at a time though. Please."

Nora immediately shot her arm up like she was in a class, prompting Jack to chuckle, "Ok then, go ahead Nora."

Nora brought her arm down as she asked, "What's your favorite pancake?"

Jaune introduced his palm to his forehead while Jack smiled and shook his head, _'Of course that would be her first question, considering back in the forest.'_

"Uh… that's a tough one, but I think I like the simple stuff like plain or chocolate chip. Definitely not any with fruit." Jack smiled at the hyper pancake lover.

Nora gave him a scrutinizing look that made Jack lean back away from her, until she smiled at him again, "Fair enough."

Pyrrha was the next one to raise her hand, making Jack realize he pretty much made them think he turned their dorm into a classroom, "Ok guys you don't have to raise your hand like I'm a teacher. You could just look to each other and figure out who wants to go after who."

Pyrrha slowly lowered her hand and gave him her catchphrase apology, which he just shook off and signaled her to still ask her question, "Where were you and Luke staying if you couldn't let anyone take you in?"

Jack shrugged, but his mouth fell from a smile to a neutral line across his face, "We never stayed in one place, we always moved from one place to the next."

Jack brought his hand back up while he spoke, "Here: to explain in more detail, how about I explain some of the geography and society of Earth? It will probably shed a bit of light."

The listeners nodded, and Jack cleared his throat again before he began again, "So on Earth, there are continents. In those continents, there are sovereign countries, and within those countries, there are separate states and counties. One of these countries was the United States of America, which is part of the continent, wait for it… North America!" JNPR chuckled, "And before you ask, yes, there is a north and a South America.

"So in the United States, there are fifty states in total. Forty-eight are grouped together in one big mainland, while the other two are spread out away from the main giant piece of land. That country is very obsessed with its 'defense', so much so that a certain program was created for such 'defense'." the Remnant children lowered their heads as the recalled Lukes past, "Anyway, after what happened with, Bruce, we mostly moved from state to state, sleeping in abandoned buildings like warehouses and other places like old schools and such. Sometimes we left the country to go to others on different continents, but we would always end up returning to the US. That's short for the United States."

Everyone took a moment to let Jack adjust, knowing that remembering those times must have taken a toll. All they really knew about the two earthlings was that for years, they had been going through hell and all on their own with no one else to rely on. Ren and Nora felt sympathetic for the two, after everything they had gone through themselves since Kuroyuri, though the other two members of their team could never understand how it felt to only have one person to rely on and take care of in return. While not everyone on team JNPR was feeling the same, they still shared the same thoughts; thoughts about what Ozpin had told them before they left the office. Just what could have been so terrible that they would rather mention their years of being alone? What could have been so awful that they would not even give it a single thought?

While their questions were running through JNPR's heads, Jack recollected himself and propped his head up with a small smile, "Thank you guys, I appreciate the little moment of silence. Anyway, whoever's next can go ahead and ask their question."

Jaune and Ren looked at each other, and Jaune signaled Ren to go first, so Ren looked back to Jack, "What kinds of fighting styles do you and Luke use?"

"Well, we use a bit of everything. Luke was already heavily trained with CQC and other martial arts, while I was always more of the streetfighter kind of guy."

Jack put his hand back to his chin before he continued, "Honestly I can never remember what the styles and martial arts we learned are called. I just know how to do them. Luke has always been the one who got up close and personal while I was more of a ranged fighter or countering when up close. Back in the forest with that giant bear thing was a good example, but when we were fighting humans, Luke would charge in and defend when necessary while I would stay on the defensive. You know, I counter, send the target Luke's way and so on and so forth."

"Sounds like you and Luke had perfect balance, like the two of you had your own strengths and used them in synch." Jaune pitched his two cents in.

"That, I… yeah sure." Jack laughed at Jaunes comment, prompting the blond knight to look down in embarrassment until Jack spoke back up, "No, no, I'm not laughing like it was a stupid thing to say, I'm just laughing at how that's more like something Luke would say but in my words."

"Oh, ok then." Jaune looked back up with a small smile but a smile nonetheless, "So I guess it's my turn to ask a question right?"

"I guess so."

"What exactly are your weapons. I mean, I can see the knife that's on your belt but what about those other weapons? The ones you used on the Ursa major?" Jaune finally asked his question.

Jack smiled as he brought out his two blades, "These are Hellfire and Brimstone. Like Luke and I said, we didn't actually make them, we just imagined them, and then that Nexus guy made them real when we got here. Anyway, when I pictured them, I pictured that they would light on fire, freeze over, and a bunch other elemental stuff. They can also turn into giant pistols, and I can combine them to make a high caliber sniper rifle. Although, for some reason, they don't fire regular lead bullets."

"That must be because when that deity actually made them, he must have made them capable of firing dust instead of lead bullets, whatever lead is." Pyrrha theorized.

"Dust? You mean like the stuff on windowsills? That's ammunition here?" Jack was dumbfounded, not at all understanding why his question made everyone giggle so much.

"No no, you see, dust is Remnants greatest resource. It is used from fuel to ammunition to pretty much everything. There are also different types of dust: fire, ice, lightning and many more. I guess that what you fired from your rifle was normal dust-based bullets." Ren explained.

"Oh, ok then. Thanks for that." Jack was grateful for Ren's little 'World of Remnant' lesson.

"Well anyway, how about now you guys answer my questions? I know all of your first names, but I can't remember Jaune's and I don't think the rest of you told us yours. So how about you guys tell me your names, fighting styles and weapons?" Jack proposed, gaining nods from his new team.

"That's a good idea. Well, my full name is Jaune Arc. Short and sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

Jack just gave him a blank look and said, "No. I don't think they do. At all. That's just… wow. That's bad."

Pyrrha glared at Jack while Jaune hung his head down before he produced his weapon, "Well… anyway, this is my sword, Crocea Mors."

Jacks blank face turned into a surprised smile, "Huh, nice to see that not every weapon in this world is 'Final Fantasy' level ridiculous."

Jaunes head rose back up with an even more surprised look in his eyes and a broad smile. He could not remember a time when someone complimented or appreciated the simplicity of his family heirloom. The comment even made Pyrrha smile at Jack, though she was still a bit ticked from his little blow on her crush's confidence.

"Thanks, I guess. Anyway, it was handed down in my family from generation to generation. I guess you could say it's the Arc family sword." Jaune explained to the earthling.

"Ok, I gotta give you props man. I'm sure it's tempting to switch to a more, I don't know, 'common' weapon. Yet you still use your old sword in honor of your family. I gotta say that's pretty damn admirable." Jack complimented Jaune while bowing his head in respect.

Jaunes face brightened up with pride, and he nodded his head right back with a giant smile, "Thank you. That really means a lot."

Ren moved his hand towards his boot, staring at it for a second before growing his own small but somewhat sad smile, but Jack noticed before he could hide it, "You alright Ren?"

"Yes, I'm alright. I just remembered something, that's all." the green-clad ninja almost immediately replied.

Jack did not buy it. Not. One. Bit.

He knew Ren was hiding something, specifically something painful, some kind of trauma or a bad dream. He knew because he had seen the face Ren was making. It was the face that stared back at Jack every time he looked in the mirror. He thought about getting Ren to talk about whatever it was but decided it was best to just leave it be and let the ninja figure out when and where to disclose it for himself. _'Yeah… eventually…'_

"Ok then, how about you? What's your weapon or semblance." Jack chose to ask instead after a minute.

Ren made a small smile and produced his two pistols, "My name is Lie Ren, and my weapon is called Stormflower. It's two handguns with daggers on the ends."

Jack put a hand to his chin, "Doesn't seem all that helpful if you wanted to fight something at a distance."

Ren nodded before he responded, "You're right, but I am most familiar with close quarters combat so I mad my weapon one that would accommodate that. Pyrrha has the best weapon for long distances."

Jack nodded in understanding, knowing that in their standard form, Hellfire and Brimstone were not precisely the right weapons for a long or medium range.

 _'Maybe I should mess with them a bit. I mean, yeah I'm pretty damn good at CQC, with everything that Luke had taught me, but I always have ended up being support at a distance. Of course, more often than not, I end up charging in alongside Luke, so maybe I should just keep them how they are. The blade modes are perfect for close range, the chains, and their pistol modes are fine for midrange, and the sniper mode couldn't be more perfect for distance.'_

"So Pyrrha," the red-headed spartan raised her head, "What's your full name and what makes your weapon best for long distance?"

Pyrrha stood up and produced a spear and shield, "Well, my full name is Pyrrha Nikos, and my weapons are Milo and Akouo."

Her javelin began to shift in her hand and stopped when it became a sword, "Milo is capable of turning into a xiphos," it began to shift again, "as well as a rifle. That's why Ren mentioned I was best for long range, though I am very well versed in close quarters as well, from my days as a duelist in tournaments."

Jack smirked, "I'm guessing that close range fighting is what the shield is for. So what's it called again?"

"Akouo."

Jack just stood still for a moment before he shrugged and sighed, "Oh I don't get it. It's just all Greek to me."

The students just looked at their new earthling friend thinking, _'What?'_

The new student groaned and rubbed his eyes, "Ugh, nevermind. I realize now that Luke is the only one who would get that."

Eventually, after a few seconds of awkward silence, Jack dropped his hand from his face, "Anyway, Nora was it?" the ginger girl in question perked up, "What's your weapon?"

The pancake lover stood up and from out of nowhere produced a giant Warhammer, "My name is Nora Valkyrie, and my weapon here is called Magnhild. It's also a sweet little grenade launcher."

After Magnhild finished shifting into its grenade launcher mode, Nora looked up to see Jack just frozen in place, "Your last name… is Valkyrie… and your weapon… is a hammer… called Magnhild… what about your semblance."

Nora's confused look was replaced with a bright smile, she loved talking about her little superpower! "I absorb electricity, and it makes me stronger. I could probably suplex an Ursa if I got zapped with one around me."

JNPR did not even have time to be scared of Nora with an Ursa, because Jack had suddenly burst into laughter. The exact same manic and uncontrollable laugh he started when Nora asked him about pancake people. Everyone could just watch in confusion and a slight bit of worry at the laughing man on the floor in a fetal position. Nora thought he was maybe laughing at her semblance, but before she could hit him with Magnhild, he stood up, chuckling all the way.

"I'm so-hic-, so sorry about that." he wheezed out between giggles, "It's just, hehe, your last name is VALKYRIE, you're weapon is a HAMMER named MAGNHILD, and your semblance is powering yourself with LIGHTNING!" and just like that, he went back to dying of laughter.

Nora went from annoyed back to confuse. What was he implying? Was there something about it that only earthlings know?

"Why is that so funny?" Jaune eventually voiced the obvious question.

Their strange earthling teammate took in around three deep breaths and looked back at Nora with a mischievous glint in his eye.

 _'Is she basically a female version of him? Yes. Is she the kind of person to tell those stories to? Probably not. Am I gonna do it anyway? ALL KINDS OF YES!'_

"Oh Nora, have I got some stories from Earth for you!"

* * *

"Nice bunk-beds… I think?"

Whatever Luke was expecting, seeing four different beds placed in the form of bunk beds with sheets and books was not it. "I mean, I like how you improvised and just used whatever you had at your disposal but, still."

"Yeah it is kinda disorganized, but you get used to it, besides, hasn't broken down on top of us yet!" Ruby proudly announced.

If Luke was actually trying to not smile at Ruby's little quirkiness, then he was gladly failing at it, "I'll take your word for it, Ruby. So do you guys have a bathtub?"

RWBY stared at their new teammate like he had three eyes, at least until Blake asked the question on each of their minds, "Uh… yeah, we do. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it would probably make things easier for you four if I was sleeping in a different room than you guys." Luke answered like it was obvious, "Before you try and argue, it'll be fine, years of practice have made me capable of sleeping pretty much anywhere."

"And what if we were to take a morning shower and you were asleep in there?" Weiss asked with an annoyed edge to her voice.

After a few seconds of the rest of RWBY glared at the heiress for her rude tone, Luke coughed into his hand to get their attention, "Actually, she has a point. Maybe-"

Before he could suggest anything else, a faint, high-pitched beeping sound started coming from Lukes bag on the desk. While the earthling faced his backpack, the hidden Faunus covered her cat ears from the noise, gaining looks of concern from her teammates. When Luke reached into his bag, he pulled out a glowing crystal-like silver cube the size of his hand with a dulled gold metal casing. The casing covered the sides and edges of the cube, but left the corners and diamond-shaped openings on each side, exposing the crystalline portion of the cube. Luke was puzzled, he did not recall putting anything like it in his bag.

"I… don't know what this is." He stated while studying the dimensions of the cube.

Ruby rushed over to see it, "It looks pretty cool. Maybe it does something if you press the exposed parts?"

Luke did so, and suddenly the cube brightened up the room as if the sun had suddenly appeared right in front of the room's occupants, temporarily blinding them. When they looked again, they saw a small hammock, hung from the walls on each side of the door. They could only stare dumbfounded at the thing that just appeared out of nowhere, at least until Yang regained her senses after she shook her head, "Did what just happened really just happen?"

"Yeah. Looks like Nexus did even more for Jack and I than we thought." Luke mused out loud.

"Well, that was pretty sweet of him," Ruby smiled, "and look! Now we figured out where you'll be sleeping."

"Yeah, I guess…" Luke turned back to his team, "Is this ok with you guys? Or should I try and move the hammock somewhere else?"

"I don't think there's really anywhere else you can put the hammock. And for the god sake, stop worrying about us. As Ruby said, we're fine with you sleeping in the same room as us. If your constant concern for us and our comfort is anything to go by, we have nothing to worry about with our privacy or comfort. It's ok." Blake reassured her new teammate.

"Yeah! Plus with this kickass hammock, we can really _hang_ around whenever we want." Yang found a way to get a pun in.

Everyone from the original team RWBY groaned while the earthling put his hand to his face. To anyone else, it looked like he was annoyed, but honestly, he was trying to keep himself from chuckling. He had a feeling puns were the girl's thing, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry I'm such a pain."

"You're not a pain, not at all, you're just a new student getting adjusted to the school. It's nothing, and we promise that we'll help you out along the way." Ruby put her hand on Luke's forearm, "After all, you're our teammate."

Everyone in the room, even the heiress, grew big smiles at the friendliness and acceptance their leader was showing, even though they knew it was just who she is, "Thank you, Ruby, that really means a lot."

Ruby gave a big smile before she realized she was still holding onto Luke and she quickly pulled away, blushing. Everyone gave the little leader a lighthearted chuckle as she sheepishly pressed her two index fingers together and looked down at her feet. Suddenly she shot her head up, and her face looked as though a light bulb had just lit up right above her head, "HEY! We've still got some free time! Why don't you tell us about your world and weapon?"

She started practically bouncing off the walls like a lacrosse ball, "Does it turn into a gun? What kind of dust does it use? What type of metal is it made of?"

Luke tried his best, but even he could not keep up with the questions, so Weiss put her hand up to stop her partner, "Ruby, he didn't make it remember? He only imagined it."

"Oh yeah."

"It's ok Weiss, I think I can answer a few of those questions. If they were the questions, I think they were… it was kind of hard to keep up." Luke rubbed the back of his neck with a small smile.

"Yeah, Rubes here is a little bit of a weapons nut. Kinda her thing." Yang ruffled her little sister's hair before she put her hand on her hip and leaned into it, "So what's your thing handsome?"

Luke smirked as he drew his sword from his back and placed it on the table, "It's called Ragnarok."

"That sounds… ominous." Weiss admitted.

"Well, I guess it is. At least, that depends on your point of view." Luke mused.

He looked back to see the confused faces of his new team and realized it was time for his first tale of Earth. "Well, in my world, there are many different mythologies of gods, mortals, and other mythical creatures, and one of those stories is called 'Ragnarok.'"

Everyone leaned in to hear Luke's story of from Earth, "Well, basically the short version: Ragnarok is the story of the end, the apocalypse. The battle where gods meet their end alongside the rest of existence. However, after everything ends, a new world begins from the ashes of the old, continuing the cycle of rebirth. I guess that's why I chose to name this thing Ragnarok because it kind of signifies my new beginning in a new world."

The faces of team RWBY turned from terror at the prospect of gods dying to ones of understanding and appreciation towards the sentiment, "Well, that and I really enjoy the story, along with all the others that go along with it." Luke added, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Everyone in the room giggled, but when Ruby looked back up to ask the rest of her questions, Luke put his hand up to stop her, "One at a time Ruby? Please?"

Ruby shook her head up and down rapidly, and Luke put his hand back down, signaling the little red reaper to go ahead, "So does it turn into a gun?"

Luke nodded, "Yeah it's supposed to turn into an assault rifle, but I haven't actually tried that yet."

"What about dust? Can it use all the different types? If so then how?" Ruby wasted no time with her next questions.

"Ruby, I don't even know what dust is. Or at least, whatever dust you're talking about."

Weiss took that as her cue and stepped up, "Dust is Remnant's most valuable resource. It's used to power any and everything. It can also be refined for use in weaponry since there are multiple types. For example, there are four main types of dust: fire, air, water, and lightning; then there are the secondary types: ice, steam, gravity, and finally… earth." the heiress blinked, "And now I realize that one of our dust types is the name of your world."

Everyone looked back to Luke, who just shrugged, "Well, 'earth' is also a word used to label the ground and everything below it, even on my world, so I can't really say that I'm surprised."

Luke looked back at Weiss with curious eyes, "You seem to know a lot about dust."

"That's because she was raised around it." Everyone turned to Blake as she spoke up, "Weiss' family runs the biggest dust mining corporation in the world. It's near impossible to walk through a dust shop and not see their company's logo. However, it's also infamous for its carelessness for their faunus workers, practically treating them as slaves."

Weiss looked down in shame when the earthling turned to her with a glare that could rival their combat teacher, "Is this true?"

The heiress sighed, her head still hanging low, "Yes. When my father took over, he turned the company into a near-dictatorship. That's why I had to leave my kingdom, to live outside of my father's scrutinizing grip and learn how to redeem the company."

Luke did not speak for a minute, as he was sorting through his thoughts and carefully figuring out his next words, "Whatever your father's name is is not your name. I wouldn't fault you for the sins of your father."

Weiss looked back up in disbelief, until she smiled gratefully at the acceptance from her new friend, "Thank you. Your acceptance is very appreciated."

Luke then turned towards Blake to see her head hanging low, "Are you alright Blake? You seem troubled."

Blake looked up with an apologetic smile and teary amber eyes, "Yes it's just… when I first met Weiss, I was guilty of holding her father's mistakes against her. I mean, now I don't, but it still makes me feel guilty."

Weiss put a hand on her teammate's shoulder, bidding her to look at the heiress, "That's all in the past now Blake. I forgive you, I just hope you can forgive me for my mistakes as well."

Blake wiped her eyes and returned the gesture, "Of course Weiss, after all, we're a team, and teams stand together."

Luke smiled at the little moment unfolding before him. Looking back towards the two sisters, he could see from each of their expressions that they genuinely cared for one another, as if they were… family. The thought made Luke's own head sink down, memories of better times, and worse times, mixing together in a vortex of thoughts and emotions forcing itself through his mind. All the family that he had left was Jack, and even then, he wasn't exactly family by blood, only in words. Then he recalled the process both of them went through to become like bothers, the choice Jack had made, the same decision Luke tried to talk him out of to no avail. It was one of Luke's greatest regrets that his honorary brother chose to stand by him instead of…

"-ou ok Luke?"

Luke snapped his head back up to see everyone else in the room staring at him, concern leaking from every part of their faces, "Uh, yeah I'm alright. I just spaced out for a minute. We got kinda off track with that question, and I'm sorry about that."

RWBY looked back to each other, their faces asking each other the question without any need of words, at least until Ruby turned back to him, "You sure Luke? Plus it's not your fault."

Luke shook his head, "Yeah I'm fine. I promise. You can just go ahead and ask your next question about Ragnarok, Ruby."

Ruby's eyes went back to their star mode almost immediately, "Ok, do you happen to know what type of metal it's made of?"

Luke shook his head again, only a bit more slowly than the last time, "I might have a few ideas since it should take select metals and composites to make a weapon like this, but I honestly don't know if such metals and composites exist here. I'm pretty sure it's made from some kind of metal from this world that I haven't heard of, I mean, it was made to be what passes as ordinary here."

"Actually, Jaune, the leader of team JNPR, doesn't use a weapon like ours." Ruby brought Luke's attention towards her, "He uses a regular sword and shield. It's called 'Crocea Mors,' and it's actually a family heirloom."

Luke's eyebrows rose a few centimeters at the information, "I gotta give him some respect for that. I'm sure his family is proud of him."

"I wouldn't." Weiss scoffed, "He's an unskilled embarrassment of a huntsman and doesn't belong here."

"WEISS!" her partner shouted, "That's not nice!"

"It's true though."

"True or not," Luke spoke up in a heavy tone that made everyone's spine shiver, "it still doesn't give you the right to speak like that. As a matter of fact, if he is still here despite his difficulties with this kind of thing, then I think he deserves even more respect. After all, he hasn't given up yet with everything that's up against him, and that's pretty damn admirable in my opinion."

Although the small speech was directed at the heiress, all of RWBY took in their new teammate's opinion and had to agree. In fact, the only one who had initially shared Luke's opinion was the team leader, while everyone else on her team had their views against the knight of JNPR. Ruby tapped her foot against the floor and began to break the silence that followed, "Sooo… can I?" she pointed to Ragnarok, still resting on the table.

Its wielder chuckled, "Go for it, Ruby."

Ruby cheered and raced over to the sword, but when she tried to lift it, it fell on top of her, sending her to the floor with a loud THUNK, "Holy crud this is heavy!"

Yang laughed at her sister's antics before she quickly strolled over and lifted the sword off of her, though with a bit of difficulty, "Jeez, she's right. This thing weighs a ton!"

When Luke grabbed it from the blonde, their hands briefly touched. Though the earthling hadn't noticed, the brawler sure did, hiding her face so her tomato-red blush would be concealed. The other three RWBY members looked to each other, seeing their blonde brawler's uncharacteristic shyness, and grew evil grins. They knew exactly what it meant, and they were going to have as much fun with this as their teammate's honorary brother probably was.

They were so caught up in their silent planning, and Yang was too busy trying to hide her blush that Luke had to cough into his hand again to get their attention, "Well, I've told you about my weapon, but I still don't really know that much about you guys. How about you introduce yourselves fully, tell me something about yourselves, and show me your weapons?"

The reaper, the heiress, the kunoichi, and the brawler all nodded their head at the idea and decided to go in order, so Ruby spoke first, "Well my name is Ruby Rose, I'm actually fifteen years old, and my weapon is my darling baby here."

She reached behind her back and drew a metal cube that shifted into a giant red and black scythe almost twice her size, "Crescent Rose~."

Luke blinked. Then blinked again. Then closed his eyes, rapidly shook his head, and when he opened them, the scythe was still there. "How… You… I… How is it that you can lift THAT, but Ragnarok is too heavy for you? I mean, that scythe is taller than you!"

Ruby pouted, "Well, my baby here is made of a lighter type of metal than whatever Ragnarok is made of, which I would probably know if I were to look more closely at it. Second, I AM NOT THAT SHORT! I DRINK MILK!"

Over the course of his life, Luke and everyone who knew him well enough figured out that he had more significant willpower than anyone else he had met, but it took a toll on even his immense will to keep from laughing like Jack did back in the forest. Everyone else in the room either smirked or shook their heads at the familiar scene of their red reaper defending her height. The earthling drew in a long breath and smiled, "I can already tell why you're here earlier than most people, you're pretty special Ruby."

Ruby blushed at the compliment and sheepishly backed away, then her partner stepped forth, "I am Weiss Schnee, I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, and my weapon is Myrtenaster."

She drew forth a rapier-like sword with what looked like a revolver chamber at the hilt, the sight of which made Luke's mind come to a halt, _'Wait a minute, Nexus mentioned a scythe that was also a sniper rifle and a rapier that was also a revolver. Could he have been implying that these students are important in some way?'_

"That's… a rather elegant looking weapon. It's interesting, to say the least." Luke tried to compliment the heiress, but his mind was racing too fast to think of a more appropriate response.

Weiss smiled at the compliment nonetheless, and she bowed her head in gratitude, allowing Blake to step up for her turn, "My name is Blake Belladonna, and my weapon is called 'Gambol Shroud.'"

The ravenette reached behind her back and drew a short katana-like sword, then it shifted into a pistol, though Luke noticed something was missing, "And what about you? There has to be something interesting about you."

Blake hesitated, but then she felt her blonde partner's hand on her shoulder, silently telling her that it was going to be ok. So she took a deep breath and reached to her bow, "I'm… I'm actually a Faunus."

With a tug of her hand, she pulled her bow off and once again revealed her cat ears to her team, including the new member. They twitched around for a few seconds, stretching out after being confined by the black bow. Luke studied them for a minute, but his face showed no emotion, good or bad. Eventually, he looked down to her face and smiled, "From what I've heard I can understand why you hide them, but I just want you to know that this actually is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. That, and I think the ears suit you more than that bow."

Blake's heart was rushing a mile a minute. She began to question why she was still so hesitant about revealing herself to him, after all, he and his brother had the most accepting reactions towards Faunus she had ever seen. What did she really have to worry about?

"Th-thank you. If you don't mind, would you please keep this between us?" The Faunus quietly requested as she put her bow back on top of the ears, concealing them once again.

"I can at least tell Jack right?" Luke asked, "I mean, it won't be a problem with him either."

"Team JNPR already knows so maybe they've already told him, if not though, then yeah, you're welcome to." Blake decided.

"Alright. Thank you for trusting me." Luke's smile returned.

Blake bowed her head and stepped back, but before her partner could step forward, she smacked the blonde brawler forward, causing her to nearly stumble onto Luke. When Yang got her bearings straight, she turned back to the Faunus with red eyes and an unamused face. Her partner merely shrugged while Ruby and Weiss giggled like anime schoolgirls behind her. Yang quickly changed her eyes back to their original lilac color before she turned around to face the earthling, "Sorry about that."

The earthling in turn just shrugged, telling her it was fine and she took that as her cue to begin introducing herself, "So, my name is Yang Xiao Long, I've got an awesome ride called Bumblebee, and my weapon is Ember Celica."

She tightened her hands into fists and her bracelets deployed into gauntlets covering the back of her hands and her forearms. When Luke looked to the front of them, he could see a barrel on each gauntlet with shotgun-like shells loaded behind the barrel. Luke could not help but let out a little wolf whistle, he always did love fighting with his bare hands a bit more than weapons. "I like your choice in weapons. Wish I had something like them back on my world."

If Yang's smile went any wider, it would have probably split her face in two, "Nice to meet a guy who appreciates the 'up close and personal' kind of combat. Where have you been all my life hot stuff?"

Luke did not respond with words, but he did let out a chuckle, then a question popped into his mind and made him stop his chuckling, "Wait a minute. Bumblebee doesn't happen to be a muscle car does it?"

Yang was a bit disappointed that he did not flirt back or anything of the like, but she got a bit confused when he asked if Bumblebee was a car, "Nope, it's a sweet motorcycle. Maybe, just maybe, if you're nice enough, you might get a ride on it~" she offered with a wink.

If the rest of RWBY was not already dumbfounded by the prospect of Yang offering another person the chance to drive her bike, they sure as hell were when they heard the next words out of Luke's mouth, "I'm not much of a motorcycle guy, hell I don't even have a license."

Weiss was the first to shake off the confusion, "You can take down a large pack of Grimm, survive for seven years on the run, but you don't know how to drive?!"

Luke shook his head, "Of course I know how to drive. After all the time on the run and in the project, I can drive anything, and I can even fly anything, but I just don't have a license."

Everyone in the room made an "oh" motion with their faces when they realized what he meant. Then Ruby suddenly sped back up to the earthling, pushing her sister back to the beds in the process. She pointed to the holster on Luke's leg and the knife on his other leg, "What about these weapons? I only just noticed them."

Luke smiled and drew his pistol and knife from their places, "This is just my sidearm, a Walther P99. I've had to rely on this to get out of a lot of sticky situations, same with the knife." he lifted his other hand, "It's a Ka-bar 1245 Tanto knife. Ka-bar is this company in my world that makes knives for soldiers. Jack and I have this set of rules we live by, and rule number nine is 'never go anywhere without a knife.' That's one of our most important rules."

"You live by a set of rules, and one of them states to never go anywhere without some kind of knife. Are you trying to make yourself sound like a ninja or something?" Blake asked with a small smile on her face.

The earthling chuckled at the accusation, "No I'm not a ninja, I just have a set of rules I live by that helps me to survive. That and my stealth training are the only things I have in common with ninjas. Besides, the man who made those rules was no ninja, but he was as close to one as an earthling could get. His name was Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"Well, whoever made or followed those rules, you still sound like a pretty awesome ninja to me." Ruby smiled sweetly as she praised Luke.

"Yeah, but if anyone here knows everything about being a ninja, it's this naughty girl right here." Yang pointed her thumb towards her partner with a snicker.

Blake began to blush red as Ruby's cloak and shouted at the brawler, "IT'S NOT SMUT! IT'S ART, THAT'S ALL!"

Yang laughed at the flustered cat Faunus while Luke had no idea what was going on, then everyone's scrolls went off at the same time with the alert, reading:

 **ATTENTION FIRST-YEARS**

 **Tomorrow morning Grimm Studies class with Professor Port canceled**

 **Combat Training with Professor Goodwitch to take over**

Each Remnant-born person in the room through their hands up like they were at a concert and cheered with joy, but the earthling was just confused, "Uh guys? What's going on?"

The girls all turned to their new teammate and remembered that Luke had only just got there, and did not know any of the classes, so Ruby took it upon herself to explain the outburst, "We were supposed to have Grimm studies tomorrow morning, but it's just been canceled and replaced with Combat Training! This is the best thing ever!"

Every other girl in the room wholeheartedly agreed with their leader, but their attention was brought back to Luke when he realized something, "Wait, but I don't…"

* * *

"...have my aura unlocked yet." Jack realized the conundrum he was currently in and voiced it to his team.

Their eyes all widened in realization when they remembered he was right. They had gotten so caught up in Jack's stories of Earth that they had forgotten to get his aura unlocked. Now that they had their combat class the next day, there was no time to waste, he and Luke needed to have their aura unlocked immediately. They remembered that Ozpin suggested that Pyrrha unlocked Jack's aura, while Yang unlocked Luke's, and the occupants giggled for a minute as they knew why Ozpin had recommended Yang do so.

Pyrrha was about to stand up, but Jaune beat her to it, "I'll unlock your aura, I mean, you're part of the team I lead so I guess it makes sense."

Pyrrha was about to protest, but Jack clapped his hands, making everyone in the room flinch, "Alright then, can't argue with that logic, so what do we need for this?"

"Well, it's uh… it's pretty simple," Jaune nervously began, "I just need you to come over here, close your eyes, and concentrate."

* * *

"OH CRAP, YOU'RE RIGHT! YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR AURA!" Ruby shouted in panicked realization with dinner plate sized eyes.

All of RWBY looked to each other when they remembered Ozpin had suggested Yang unlock his aura, the memory of which put smirks on their faces, and a blush on the blonde brawler's. "Guys?"

They all turned their heads back to the earthling in the room, "How does one unlock their aura?"

"They don't." Ruby answered, "It's unlocked through a chant spoken by another person. One of us will unlock your aura. Yang? How about you?"

Yang thought that she should have been mad or at least annoyed at her sister, but she couldn't if she tried. As a matter of fact, she felt… proud?

"Yeah, it'll be no problem. Our father unlocked my aura, and our uncle unlocked Ruby's, so I know how to do it." Yang eventually admitted.

Luke smiled reassuringly, "Alright then, so you just have to chant something, and I'll have my aura?"

Yang grew her own amused smirk, "No that's, that's not exactly true. That's just a bit of an overly simplified explanation."

The brawler cleared her throat as she started walking back up to Luke, "So, think of aura like an extension of your soul, only it doesn't just occupy the inside of your body, but also the outside. Picture a layer of natural armor outside your skin and also right under it, rapidly healing any wounds taken. I mean, UGH!" she hung her head in exhaustion, "That's not much better of an explanation, is it? I'm sorry I can't explain it right I-"

Luke's hand cut her off when it found its way onto her shoulder, making her look up and blush at the reassuring smile still on his face, "No no, it's ok, I'm pretty sure I know what you're trying to say. Just tell me what you need me to do."

 _'Take me out to a nice dinner and just keep looking at me with those fields of green, that's what I need, handsome.'_

Yang shook her head to hide the further growing blush and dispel those thoughts before she calmed down, "Ok I just need you to stand in front of me, close your eyes, and concentrate. Trust me."

The earthling nodded, then closed his eyes per the brawler's request, soon feeling a hand placed on his cheek.

 ** _"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality."_**

 ** _"Through this, We become a paragon of virtue and glory,"_**

 ** _"To rise above all."_**

 ** _"Infinite in distance and unbound by death,"_**

 ** _"I release your soul and by my shoulder,"_**

 ** _"Protect Thee."_**

In both team's dorms, when the chant was over, the Remnant-borns had to look away from each earthling from the blinding energy flooding out from their bodies. Jack was shining gold as the sun in JNPR's dorm, and Luke was blinding all of RWBY with the silver flashes emanating from his body. Along with the blinding lights, there was a feeling of pressure on each Remnant-born in the room, like they were being forced on their knees by some forbidden power. Unbeknownst to them, they were not the only ones feeling the pressure from the immense power.

* * *

"Ozpin?" Ironwood barely kept himself standing, while Glynda had put her hands on her knees to stay on her feet.

"..."

The emerald wizard stayed quiet for a moment, trying to feel where it was coming from. When he did, he smiled, "It seems the earthlings have just had their aura unlocked. Interesting… very interesting…"

* * *

"Cinder? What's happening?!" a girl with jade hair, red eyes, and dark skin felt as though the wall she was forced upon was about to crack and send her flying through the courtyard.

The other two occupants of the room were not faring any better. The tall, silver-haired, and light skinned boy looked down and winced at the effect the pressure was inflicting on his prosthetic feet and shins. How could something like this be hindering Mercury Black? The other person in the room was a tall woman with pitch black hair, a red dress, and bright amber eyes. Even with her hidden abilities, she still needed to support herself by putting her hands on the room's desk, the pressure taking a toll on her as well. She was Cinder Fall, the Fall Maiden, what kind of power other than her master's could put her into such a state of weakness and imbalance?

"I do not know Emerald," when the pressure began to subside, Emerald feel onto her hands and knees, breathing like a ton of weight had just removed itself from her lungs. Mercury fell back onto one of the beds, proceeding to examine his prosthetics and see if something had somehow broken beyond repair. Cinder removed her hands from the tabletop and looked in the direction the pressure had come from with her eyes burning full of anger, "we're going to have to find out for ourselves."

* * *

"Stop me if you didn't, but did you just feel like some kind of wave just crashed down on top of you and kept on coming?" a tall, blond, tan, muscular, monkey-tailed Faunus looked to his teammate in confusion.

At least until the confusion turned into a smirk, "Oh right, you wouldn't know since you're scared stiff of water."

"HEY!" His blue-haired partner exclaimed in annoyance.

"Chillax man, I'm just kidding." the Faunus' smirk turned serious as fast as Ruby when her semblance was activated, "But seriously, you felt that too right Neptune?"

Neptune nodded to his partner, "Yeah Sun, I felt that too, felt like it was coming from the first year dorms here. What do you think it was?"

"I dunno, how about we ask my friends from Beacon when we see them? We still gotta introduce you to them." Sun shrugged as they continued walking down the hallway.

* * *

In the dorms of teams RWBY and JNPR, their eyes had readjusted, and when they looked up, they saw their new teammates covered in a layer of light. Luke was covered in platinum light, and his brother was shimmering gold. After a few seconds, the light subsided completely, and both opened their eyes to find their new teammates staring at them before they rushed past their earthling teammate and into the hall. Ruby nearly collided with Jaune when they headed for the others' dorm door.

"DID YOU FEEL THAT TOO?!" the two leaders screamed at each other in sync, "YOU DID?!"

"Uh, hello?", standing in both doorways, the earthlings had expressions mixed with worry and confusion, "Judging from your reactions, we're gonna take a guess and say that wasn't what normally happens was it?"

Both leaders shook their heads rapidly, not knowing if they could even explain in words, a job left to RWBY's heiress, "No. That's not at all normal. I have a theory, but I will need your scrolls to test it."

Luke went back inside to grab his scroll, and Jack merely reached into his pocket, both handing them to Weiss. Once she got both of them, the heiress activated the aura sensors in their scrolls to register the earthlings' aura levels. When the aura measurements came to an end, the results of each earthlings' aura was displayed separately on their individual scrolls, and they caused Weiss' eyes to widen in shock, "Y… YOUR AURA LEVELS AND RESERVES ARE MASSIVE! I NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS!"

The brothers in arms looked to each other, Jack voicing the question they both were thinking, "That's… good… right?"

"It's incredible!" the Mistralian champion drew their attention towards her, "These levels are higher than Jaune's, and his levels are already above the norm!"

There was not a single pair of eyes on one of the Remnant-borns that were not wide as dinner plates or staring at the blond knight in question. Jaune's own eyes were the size of planets as he stared at the boy whose aura he unlocked, "We're gonna need to test this!"

"Agreed." Yang grabbed Luke's arm, locking it onto her chest teasingly and looking up to him feigning innocence, "How about we spar to test it out? What do you say, big boy?"

Luke was about to respond, but his blushing face soon turned to one of realization and his eyes squeezed together, "Something tells me that that's the reason they canceled the Grimm Studies class and replaced it with Combat Training."

Ruby looked confused, "But we didn't get the alert after we unlocked your aura. They sent it-"

"Right before." Jack finished the reaper's thought, "So we could get our aura unlocked in preparation."

Luke nodded, "Sounds like you and I will be the stars of tomorrow's class."

"Think they'll make us spar each other?"

"I hope so, I still need to work on your dodging."

Jack groaned in defeat and reintroduced his palm to his face, knowing already the next day was going to be a long day, "Oh boy…"

"Ok hold on though!" Ruby turned everyone's attention away from the earthlings and back towards her, "I say that we all go to the library and just hang out and bond there, that way, we can get to know both of you at the same time."

"Can't argue with that logic." Luke smiled at the little leader, "You guys go ahead, Jack and I will go through my bag and see if there's anything for him."

"But you guys don't know where the library is. How will you be able to catch up?" Jaune asked the brothers.

"We'll find our way on our own, and until then, just have fun. You have my word, we will catch up." Luke reassured the two leaders.

"Well… ok then. We'll see you guys there!" Ruby called out as she and the rest of the original students walked down the hallway.

The brothers were about to head into RWBY's dorm when the blonde brawler called out, "You better not take too long handsome! It's rude to keep a girl waiting~."

Once they disappeared out of sight, Jack gave his brother a knowing smirk, "She's right, you know, it is rude to keep a girl waiting."

The smirk opened into a laugh after Luke slapped the back of Jack's head, "Love you too buddy!"

"Shut it Jackass." Luke did not even turn around, "Now come on, let's see if Nexus left some cubes for you too."

"Uh… left some… what?"

* * *

 **A/N: Oh boy...**

 **And with that, the next chapter is here! In just TWO WEEKS! Like I said before, with everything I've got going on right now, I'll be lucky if I'm able to finish a chapter in two or three weeks, which are the deadlines I've set to myself. That being said: I can't promise that the next chapter will be up in another two or three weeks, but I'll be working as hard as I can to make that so.**

 **Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story so far and let me know what you think. Always looking for some constructive criticism and suggestions on my writing, makes it fun and helpful!**

 **Small notes:**

 **1\. Props to anyone who knows what I'm referencing when I talk about Luke and Jack's rules and their little "code's" creator: Leroy Jethro Gibbs.**

 **2\. If you want a clearer image with the cube, just imagine the Tesseract from the MCU, colored differently and with a special metal casing.**

 **Very special thanks to my beta readers: SunWukongMogar and Blacklight181, be sure to check them out as well, their great writers and even greater people.**

 **Well, 'til next time!**


	5. Chapter 4 - Change of Plans

**Chapter IV: Change of Plans**

* * *

"I wonder if Luke and Jack have this game on their world. You think it's called 'Earth: the Game' or maybe something else?" Ruby asked as she looked at the cards in her hand.

Weiss shook her head, "Ruby, even if they did have a game like this in their world, I doubt they had the time to play it, so how would they know?"

After their new earthling friends had their aura unlocked and seen their rooms, teams RWBY and JNPR decided to all go to the library so that their new friends and teammates could all bond together. Although, the brothers in arms decided to check and see if Nexus, the deity that brought them to Remnant, had left any of his small gifts for Jack as well as Luke. So, at the moment, they were sitting in the library, playing "Remnant: the Game" and reading silently. When they did talk, they mostly talked about their friends from another world and how they were going to adjust their team moves.

"What I'm trying to figure out is how they have such high aura levels and reserves when they aren't even from our world." Pyrrha decided to pitch in on RWBY's conversation.

"Maybe it's a sign of what they say about guys with massive amounts of aura." Nora joked with a smug grin.

All of RWBY, except for their confused leader, nearly fell out of their seats in surprise at the statement, making Nora howl in laughter and her team shake their heads at the shenanigans, "What is she talking about?"

Jaune looked at his fellow leader and saw how confused she was, though he decided she should not have that knowledge just yet, "It's complicated Ruby."

The little red reaper pouted and went back to looking at her cards, "Stupid older people and their jokes I don't get…"

Yang chuckled at her sister's innocence, though she was almost immediately stopped in her tracks when the heiress made herself known, "Well, I do know a certain someone who would like to find out for herself."

The blonde choked on air while Weiss and her partner giggled at the reaction, "Oh yeah, like you weren't giving that hunk the ' _bedroom eyes_ ' when you saw him back in the forest."

It was the Schnee's turn to begin choking on the air she breathed, eliciting the tiniest smirk and remark from the ravenette Faunus, "She does have you there Weiss. What were the words that were muttered again, Yang?"

"Oh! That's just the thing Blakey! There were no words, our little heiress here was rendered _speechless_!" Yang giggled in return.

Weiss, the tables efficiently turned on her, groaned while she placed her face into her hands, causing everyone around to laugh at her expense. It took another minute of giggles before the heiress picked herself back up, "Very well, I admit, he is quite handsome, as well as his friend. He's even proven to be quite the gentleman, be careful I don't steal him, Xiao Long."

With that, the whole group fell over with laughter at the blonde's incoherent babbling, a sight which none of them had ever seen and were enjoying immensely. If the sight of the speechless brawler was not enough, the fact that it was Weiss who even put her into that state made the laughter even worse. The howling wolves were eventually put down when the librarian and a few other students came over and shushed them, though there were still a few chuckles passed around the brawler. Nearing the end of the small laughs, however, the blonde raised her head, realization clear and evident on her face as she met her partner's, "Hey Blake? You think it would be alright if we involved them in… you know?"

Faster than the snap of a finger, all sound drowned out, and all of RWBY turned back to their Faunus kunoichi. Her face did not leave the page in her book, but her teammates could tell that she was thinking hard from the way her hands were choking the front and back covers as if it were the throat of a man who insulted her family. Jaune was thinking about coming over and asking to play the board game with them, but he noticed the atmosphere around the other team and decided not to. It took some time, but eventually, Blake let out a heavy sigh and removed her face from the book's pages, "I… I don't see why not… so far, they've seemed to be more than supporters of Faunus, but I think we'll have to tell them back in our dorm, not here."

Her team nodded, and after a few more minutes of silence and playing the game; they heard a commotion in the doorway. They turned to see their otherworldly teammates talking with a familiar looking monkey Faunus and a blue-haired teen, "Ok, I'll admit, after seeing your scrolls, I believe you when you say that the massive pressure we felt earlier was the two of you, but I'm not sure I believe this whole 'other world/universe' stuff."

Jack started grazing through his scroll while Luke looked to Sun understandingly, "Yeah, I don't blame you. The fact that Jack and I are even in another world ourselves is something even we are having trouble wrapping our heads around."

"Alright then," Sun crossed his arms, "Tell me something about your world can back up what the two of you are telling us, and I'll believe you."

Before Luke could say something, Jack walked over with Neptune and pulled out his scroll, showing it to the two Haven students, "... I've never seen a city like this before, what the hell kind of city has buildings and streets like that?"

Jack smirked, "The kind that never sleeps."

The other earthling grabbed the scroll from Sun's hands and looked just as confused, "Do both of our scrolls have pictures of places on Earth?"

Hell shrugged, "Probably."

"Hey, you guys! Over here!" The four new occupants of the library turned to see Ruby waving her arms around, trying to get their attention.

Luke smiled before he turned to the other two Remnant kids, "Well, how about you hang with all of us? That way, everyone will get to know everyone better."

Sun nodded while wearing his smile, "Sounds good. You two seem like some really cool guys, I definitely wouldn't mind getting to know you better."

They all nodded to each other and walked over to the two Beacon teams, the red reaper smiling at the other company, "Hey Sun, what are you doing here?"

The monkey Faunus smiled, "I came by the first year dorms looking for all of you, then we met your new teammates here, and we started talking on the way over. I didn't think they were telling the truth about them being from a different world, but then they showed us some pictures of it on their scrolls."

Ruby's eyes sparkled as she shot over to Luke, grabbed him by the collar and put her feet on his chest, "You guys have pictures of your world?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SHOW US?!"

While Sun and his partner blanked at the scene, Jack was starting to laugh his ass off again, knowing he was going to like this place, "We didn't know we did until we were sorting through our stuff in the bag and our scrolls. Heck, we've even got music from our world on these things, and it's awesome!"

That caught the attention of the Haven students, Neptune being the one to speak up, "First off, I'd love to hear some of that music later. Second, aren't libraries for reading?"

Ren shot up from his position and threw his arms up in exasperation, "THANK YOU!"

"PANCAKES!"

"SSSHH!" Everyone looked around in embarrassment when Nora's outburst caused the rest of the library's occupants to quiet them down.

"Ooookay…" Jack started an attempt to break the silence, "Well, here we are, so how about all the new people introduce themselves."

Sun grinned and forcefully patted the back of his partner, "Great idea, let's start with the nerd over here."

"Ah ah ah! Intellectual! Well anyway, my name is Neptune, Neptune Vasilias." He looked over to Weiss and gave a smooth smile, "And I don't believe I caught your name Snow Angel.~"

The heiress started to blush, but grew a small smile, "M-my name is Weiss, it's a pleasure to meet you, Neptune."

"Oh come on!" Luke and Jack looked over to see Jaune looking downtrodden at the interaction.

"Believe me; the pleasure's all mine.~" Neptune's teeth began to practically sparkle when he showed them off again.

Luke shook his head in disappointment. Sure, he learned how to flirt, seduce, and all that "James Bond" bull when he was in the program and even while on the run, but he never liked doing it. He made sure that whenever he and Jack flirted or seduced, it was when they had no other choice. They could never do it in the early years of being on the run, but as they grew up, they found that, when trying, they could look and seem far beyond their years. By the time they were fifteen, they had the appearance and voices of freshmen in college, and it only grew even more difficult to tell when they began to grow facial hair. At least with Yang, flirting was just another form of teasing or joking, all of it in good fun.

Jack looked to his brother and let out a sigh, "Well, now that everyone's met everyone, how about we all talk about what happened back at the dorms and everyone can ask us some more questions?"

Everyone except for Blake, who gripped her book tightly and glared at the pages, smiled and nodded, but Luke held up his hand to stop them from saying anything, "While we know that we should get to know you all most, maybe we should let our new friends go first. Sun said that he was looking for all of you to introduce his partner anyway."

The monkey Faunus in question rubbed the back of his neck as he laughed, "Yeah, well, honestly I think I've already done that. Heck, I've even gotten to meet people from another world, I'm actually feeling pretty satisfied right now…" he trailed off as he looked over to his fellow Faunus, "Although I still gotta say that I didn't really think of you as the board game type."

Blake groaned and forcefully got on her feet before turning back to the door, "Well, I'm not, and I think I'm pretty much done with this. I'll be in the dorm."

All the occupants watched her go, their faces ranging from confused to concerned until Jack looked over and saw Sun's dismay, "I may not know what that was about, but I wouldn't worry too much man."

Sun looked to the earthling whose hand was on his shoulder and gave an appreciative smile in return, "Thanks. Well, I guess I'll go ahead and get out of all of your hair. Luke, Jack, call us up if you ever want to hang sometime. Cool guys like you are always welcome!"

Once they said their goodbyes or one-liners in Neptune's case, the two Haven students headed out from the library, leaving the Beacon students on their own to be questioned by their earthling friends, "What the hell's going on with Blake? Is there something that we should know about?"

Jack nodded as he picked up his time for questions, "Yeah, I thought we were just going to sort whatever Luke got from Nexus out and then we'd all bond together here."

Blake's leader closed her eyes and gave a sad sigh, "Well, we were, but it looks like that'll have to happen over the next few days. Right now, RWBY has some stuff to take care of. That includes you, Luke."

The fact that Ruby was even able to say something in a serious tone took Luke by surprise, but he began to worry what such a bright and childish person could be concerned about, "O-ok then. Lead the way, Ruby."

The little red reaper smiled and moved to the door, with Weiss following a few steps behind. However, Yang stayed behind and grabbed Luke's arm, the earthling in question looking to find a confident smile but a mixture of care and concern in her eyes, "Don't worry too much, all that will be explained in a bit."

 _'... She didn't flirt or make a pun, and she's hiding concern and worry behind her confidence… This is serious.'_

"Yang, are you sure?"

Luke's genuine concern brought a red tint to the blonde brawler's face, made only worse when the heat of the moment pushed her lips to his cheek in a chaste peck, "I'm sure. We'll be waiting for you."

She rushed out of the library before anyone could comment on what had just happened, the receiver of the kiss caught off guard and raising his hand to the cheek. Minutes had passed before Jack had enough and prodded his dumbstruck brother, "Come on Romeo, go find Juliet and the rest of the Capulets."

The words barely registered in the flustered teen's mind, "I… did she just… Jack, what do I do?"

Before JNPR's earthling answered, he put his hands on Luke's shoulders and stared deep into his eyes, "Luke, I need you to listen to me. You and I have been through a lot, we've seen a lot, and we've done a lot. Throughout these years together, I've had to watch helplessly as you broke yourself down, piece by piece, with the guilt of everything horrible that has happened. I know you, Luke, I know that right now the thought going through your head is something stupid like 'what the hell is she thinking?' or 'how could I possibly deserve this?'. Well, I need you to get this through that head: it is not at all a question of deserving or thinking, but a matter of feeling. What are you feeling right now?"

"..." it took a while before Luke could answer, "I feel scared. You know what happened the last few times I thought I could have something like that. What if it's just how someone like me lives? What if I try and it ends the same way?"

"Then it will. Look, Luke; there have been hundreds of thousands of girls and women who've looked at you and filled themselves up with lust, then there have been the few that genuinely cared for you once they got to know you." Jack sighed before he resumed, "I know that she seems like she's just the kind of girl who teases and jokes around, but deep down, I can tell that she genuinely feels something towards you. Maybe she knows it's love, maybe she thinks it's a crush, I don't know, but what I do know is that she feels something good about you. And from what I can tell, you feel something in return."

Seeing surprise on his brother's face for the first time in a long time from something Jack said brought a chuckle out of his throat, "Come on man, I told you I know you. Every time some hot girl has flirted with you or something like that, you kept your head on straight and were able to talk without any feeling in your voice or on your face. Until now. You're showing feelings and emotions, but rather than suppress them and trying to go on like a soldier, be like a human. You don't have anything to be afraid of anymore."

It was true. Back on Earth, there was only one thing, one person, that Luke feared. Terrified enough of it him that the fear of what he could do to get to Luke kept him from ever thinking that he could have any loved one or family outside of Jack. Except that was back on Earth, another planet in another universe, and now both of the earthlings had a chance to live lives without fear of what the devil they spent their lives running from. That idea of living like that was one both of the earthlings had thought about forever, but now that they were living it, it felt almost too surreal to be true.

It was their new lives, and that fact brought a smile to Luke's face, "You know what, I'll think about it. Maybe you're right, but either way, I guess now it's worth a try."

While it was nice to see his brother smile because of him, Jack still couldn't help but feel shocked from how quickly he was able to convince his old friend. Last time he tried to persuade him to do something, it took Jack nearly a month before he made any real progress. This new world and a new feeling of belonging had a significant effect on Luke, and Jack almost couldn't be happier about it. "Good, just remember 'no glove, no love.'"

With the brotherly moment completely ruined, Luke had no choice but to reintroduce his palm to the back of his brother's head, "God damn it Jackass."

The laughing jester shrugged, "Ay, fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, and I gotta be me. You should know that better than anyone."

Luke could only shake his head at the typical antics of his old friend, "Alright, well I'm gonna go see what's going on." he then looked past his brother towards a close by bookshelf, "How about the rest of you stop hiding and eavesdropping, then maybe we could all hang out as we head back together."

Almost immediately, a crashing sound and the next thing the earthlings saw was a pile of bodies on the floor with panic on their faces, "How-"

"Just like in the forest, you guys suck at being spies."

"I dunno Luke, maybe it isn't that they're terrible spies, maybe it's just that we're too good to be caught off guard."

Light chuckling followed as embarrassment washed over the faces of team JNPR, who picked themselves up and began to walk with their other-worldly friends back to their dorms. There was nothing significant or essential discussed, just a bunch of small talk and everyone getting to know one another. Although, Luke made a mental note to talk with Jack after he figured out that he told Nora about her Norse God counterpart, already having an idea on how much chaos that knowledge could cause for the rest of the team. Five minutes later, they reached the doors to the dorms, but the earthlings decided to talk for a bit before they headed back into their respective rooms.

Jack leaned on the wall with his hands behind his head as he smirked, "So, after whatever your team's got in store for you, you let me know when the first date is?"

Luke scoffed, "Yeah sure. I'll even tell you where so when I get you a girlfriend, you'll already have a place in mind."

Now it was the other earthling's turn to scoff, "Yeah like that's gonna-"

"Excuse me?"

When the aliens turned, they found themselves looking at another girl with raven hair and amber eyes, only without a bow, a green-haired girl with red eyes, and a guy going by a theme of grey. "I think you might be in the wrong place."

Jack's natural grin was replaced with a neutral line across his face as he glanced over at his brother, seeing if he was getting the same off feeling that he was, "What makes you say that miss…?"

"Cinder. Cinder Fall and these are my teammates, Emerald and Mercury. To answer your question, it's because I don't recall seeing you two when we got here." Cinder shifted her body, "Would you like to explore with us? We happen to be as well. We're students from Haven academy, here for the Vytal Festival, and we were merely exploring the place."

Luke's fingers twitched. The sultry tone of voice, the way she stood in the hallway like some model posing for a photo, her batting eyelids… she was fishing for something. Neither of the earthlings knew what, but they knew she was, now the only question was where to go from there with that knowledge. "Thanks but no need. We're newly accepted students of Beacon, and our dorm rooms are right here. We only just got our auras unlocked."

Cinder was caught off guard, both by the deep, authoritative voice and by the new information. "Really? By any chance, was your aura being unlocked the cause of those waves of pressure the school felt?"

Jack decided to make their apparent position of power known, to see what reaction that might cause, "Yep. That was us. Apparently, we've got larger amounts of aura and reserves than anyone has ever seen. Kinda strange considering we're not even from this planet."

For the second time, Cinder was caught off guard, but she was not the only one, "The hell do you mean you're not from this planet?"

Luke stood firm and looked directly into Mercury's eyes, "It means we're not from Remnant. We're from a completely different planet."

The boy in grey scoffed, "Yeah I'm gonna call BS on that."

"Believe whatever you want." Luke challenged, "Either way, it doesn't matter. We're here now, and it seems we're here to stay."

He began to turn around to his dorm when he felt soft and unusually warm hands latch onto his arm, "Ignore Mercury, whatever it might be worth, I believe you. How about you and I spend some time together over tea? We can get to know each other, and you can tell me about your world~."

Before Luke could subtly tell Cinder to back off, Jack put his hand on the shoulder opposite of the arm she grabbed, "Sorry but, my brother here had a bit of a long day and is kinda tired, just looking to get some rest."

Luke was thankful he had Jack to help him with getting out of spots of trouble, but he was not quite as good as his brother when it came to making excuses, so he built off of that, "Right. Sorry to put you down like that, although he's open to talk with at the moment."

When they were first starting their years of survival, Jack would have called Luke out when he found himself in a situation with some woman with hidden intentions, but experience taught him much, including the knowledge that Luke was only suggesting that to seem ignorant, "Yeah he's right, I'm here if you want to get to know someone."

Much to their hidden relief, Cinder let go of Luke and disregarded anything about Jack's being single, her focus being solely on Luke, "You two are brothers? I guess that makes some sense, although you two don't look exactly like each other."

"Well, we're not brothers by blood, but in spirit."

The seductress nodded, but stopped her two targets just outside their dorms, "One moment! You have my name, and it's quite rude not to give yours in return."

"Jack Hell."

"Luke Silver. Now if you don't mind, we'd like to go back to our rooms, maybe you should do the same."

With that, the two earthlings finally made it into their rooms, leaving a contemplative spy and her lackeys in the hallway, "Hm… interesting…"

Mercury turned to his leader with a small amount of shock, "You don't actually believe the whole 'other world' thing do you?"

Cinder smirked, "Whether or not their story is true, it doesn't matter. One thing I do know is that both appear to be very powerful, and they seem to be part of teams RWBY and JNPR. The very same teams that we have our eyes on."

Emerald decided to ask the question, "So what should we do? If they are as powerful as they say, should we change the plan?"

"I'm not sure at the moment. Let's just keep a close eye on them and keep watching their teams. Watch Silver specifically though."

"Why?" the hidden cripple scoffed, "Because you gave him bedroom eyes and he turned you down?"

The fallen maiden's glare was in danger of firing lasers and putting a hole through her henchman's head, "Because it seems he is like me. He has a darkness inside of him, I can tell, and if that's true, then I want to know how we can bring it out."

* * *

"WHAT IS WRONG?!"

"I just… I don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

"... You're still thinking about Torchwick?"

"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening, and nobody is doing anything about it!"

"Ozpin told us not to worry, between the police and huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it."

"Well, I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do!"

Luke had only just stepped in and found himself watching a giant argument like a man in a private theater. They were so absorbed in their fight they didn't even notice him come in until he coughed for attention, "I may not know who or what Torchwick or the White Fang are, but I can tell that whatever they are mean a lot to you, Blake."

The Faunus was about to agree before he quickly cut in with a sharp glare, "So there's absolutely no way in hell you should involve yourself."

A tone of almost military-like authority put pressure in the room, and everyone began to sweat bullets of worry, but Blake was not so easily deterred, "What the hell do you mean I shouldn't get involved?! I'm the only person here who knows what this is and the gravity of it!"

But the earthling would not back down, "Rule ten: 'Never get personally involved in a case or mission'. You seem to be pretty personally involved in whatever this discussion is about."

Blake was almost fuming with rage, the likes of which no one on team RWBY had seen, even when she and Weiss were arguing for hours only a couple weeks before, "You may have some stupid rule against being involved in things, but that doesn't mean we have to follow them! How would you even know what's best for me?!"

"It's not about you, Blake, it's about the people you're gonna get hurt if you keep going after whatever is making you like this. Trust me, I know…" if Luke hadn't such a vast supply of aura, his nails would have been drawing blood from how deep they were digging into his shaking fist.

For a second, Blake kept herself from lashing out again long enough to notice the action, and it made her pause in her rage. Turning her head, she could see the worry and concern that adorned her teammate's faces directed at her and her outburst, and that burning rage was replaced by guilt from making her team like that. Her head lowered in shame, and she started thinking she was about to shake and break down into tears, but the sudden feeling of a hand on top of her own made her look up to see Luke. His eyes not filled with concern, worry, or anger like she was afraid of, but understanding. "As I said, I may not know exactly what has you like this, but I know it's deeply personal. So tell me what it is, then I could maybe help instead of push you further."

The Faunus blushed from the soft tone his voice had taken and just barely managed to stutter out a response, "O… ok…"

Luke nodded in confirmation and gave his raven-haired teammate some space, walking over to the rest of his new team, "Seeing how personal this is for her, she'll probably say something different, but for now, can you guys explain what it is that's gotten her so worked up?"

Yang nodded and had him sit down on Weiss' bed while the three huntresses in training stood around him, "You know Blake is a Faunus."

"Yeah, and she hides it in fear of being discriminated by other students because Faunus people are discriminated because of their extra appendages right?" Luke pushed the explanation along.

"That's pretty much it. Yeah." Ruby summarized.

"So what's 'Torchwick' and the 'White Fang'? Sounds like some stupid boy band from my world." Luke tried to lighten the atmosphere like Jack always did.

He managed to get the three to giggle, so it seemed to work, but Weiss quickly went back to her neutral businesslike face, "Unfortunately no. Roman Torchwick is a highly dangerous criminal who plays a big part in Vale's underworld. We've had the misfortune to run into him a couple of times and become a problem for him and his plans. Ruby was the first. She was in a dust shop when Torchwick and some thugs walked in to rob the place until Ruby and miss Goodwitch stopped him."

After that new piece of information, a far more clear look of surprise found itself on his face as he turned to his new leader, "You stopped a whole group of criminals from stealing dust all on your own?"

Usually when someone asked her about that, Ruby tended to get defensive about it, but instead, she just rubbed the back of her head, feeling awkward that she was in the spotlight, "Ehehe… yeah… Torchwick got away though."

"... Ruby, you really are something else." Luke smiled as he shook his head in disbelief, "It doesn't matter that he got away, what matters is that he was stopped and you weren't hurt. That's something to be proud of."

The little red reaper smiled at the praise, hiding the toll it was taking to keep herself from rushing over to him and giving the earthling a big hug of appreciation, "Thank you, Luke."

Her new teammate merely nodded in return before turning to his leader's sister, "I'll bet she gets that tenacity from someone."

Then it was Yang's turn to blush at the sudden compliment, though she was able to shake it off rather quickly, "I dunno about that, but yeah she's someone to be proud of."

Luke chuckled at the exchange of blushes before he turned back to the heiress, "I'm sorry about that, you were saying?"

Weiss waved her hand, "It's quite alright, but honestly that's everything we know about Roman Torchwick."

"Then there's the White Fang." the occupants turned to see their kunoichi teammate with a far more calm yet saddened look on her face.

It was the saddened part that Luke took notice of, "I'm guessing it's the White Fang that's the personal part, right?"

Blake nodded in confirmation, "Yes. You see, the White Fang is a group of activists who advocate for Faunus rights, although their activities to move forward with that goal have become… misguided."

The earthling sighed and closed his eyes in sorrow, "They went from peaceful protesting and other non-violent forms of activism to more violent and lethal approaches."

She wanted to, she really did, but ultimately, Blake couldn't find a way to deny the statement without sounding desperate, "... Yeah…"

Luke nodded, "It happens. A lot. But that doesn't mean that's the end of all the movement's good. If it's redemption you want, then you're going to have to restart the group from the ground up."

Blake looked surprised at the sudden wisdom, "You sound like you know that from experience."

"Yeah. There are many… trying things that Jack and I have experience with. Too many…"

Another inkling of shame returned in the Faunus' heart, but she took a breath to contain it so she could continue, "I admit, I probably, no, definitely turned a blind eye to the changes in the Fang. I only let myself see what I wanted to see, or at least imagine I saw it."

"I get it. I really do." Luke looked up to his ninja teammate, "It's just human nature to let ourselves see what we want and ignore the danger that rises all the while. Before you say anything, as far as I'm concerned, the only difference between Faunus and non-Faunus is the animal traits. Faunus are just human beings with non-human appendages, that's the only difference to me."

Again, Blake wanted to disagree, but she couldn't. Not because she would sound desperate if she were to oppose, but because she knew that he was right. _'If only everyone could see us the way these people from Earth see us.'_

After his declaration, a small moment of silence spread itself throughout the room, until the earthling looked around the room to all of his teammates, "You're all thinking about going after them and stopping them, aren't you?"

No one responded, but it was easy to tell what their answer to the question was going to be, "I'm not deciding whether to help you or stop you until I hear a plan, so please, what's the plan?"

"There isn't one." Weiss spoke up, bringing everyone's heads to her, "Because we just can't do this, we're students. We're not ready!"

"We may never be ready!" Blake countered the heiress, "Our enemies aren't gonna sit around and wait for graduation day. They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is."

"You don't even know what your plan is. Knowing that, there's no way I can't ask this: what do you think you'll do when the time comes when you're going to have to kill, and I don't mean Grimm, I mean a person?"

That question was so far in the back of the teens' minds that they were shocked to silence and wide eyes from hearing it. "Why would we have to-"

"Blake, be quiet for a second and answer me this." the Faunus was shushed almost immediately at the deathly serious tone of voice, "If you go down this road, and you end up in a place where one of us found ourselves out of aura and had a gun to our face. That gun being held by a White Fang Faunus, the kind of person you want to defend to your dying day. Would you be willing to kill your fellow Faunus to save the ones who volunteered to follow you on this path, or will you hesitate and risk not being able to save your friends in time because of your stubborn optimism for the White Fang?"

For what felt like the hundredth time in the past few minutes, Luke's words brought pause to all in the room, until Blake let out words that shook like her body, "H-how c-could you… ask me that?"

Luke's head hung solemnly, "Because it is something that you need to think about for something like this. Trust me, I've been down this road as well, and I had to make the same choice."

Yang's eyes were close to watering as she pleaded to know more of her new friend's pain, so she could figure out how to help with that pain, "Which choice did you make?"

The Earth boy's sullen eyes locked with the brawler's as he answered, "The one that resulted in Jack and I living long enough for Nexus to put us here."

He may not have said the exact words, but it was clear which choice he meant. Even with the considerably little knowledge of what their two new friends had gone through on Earth, all of RWBY had to admit that the revelation should not have been such a shock. Hearing the words first hand had given them the feeling of being weighed down heavily by the choices they made, like what Luke and Jack must have been feeling with every minute. They knew little to nothing of what the two earthlings had gone through back on their home planet, but it was enough for them to understand why they were so adamant to even think about it.

Though everyone felt an immense weight on their shoulders and in their hearts, a certain raven-haired Faunus felt as though it kept her from moving, "I… I…"

Before she could let out a complete sentence, Luke lifted his head towards the silent girl, "You don't know yet… I get it. Just tell me that you understand, if you all go down this road, there will be a huge chance that you'll be put in that place. Tell me you know and understand that, please."

At that moment, Blake found herself back in time, the time when she had another partner, one who killed as well. Except that in the times when she and her old partner talked about killing, both his killings and just the act of taking a life in general, she could sense that deep down, he had enjoyed it. She could tell that when he said he had no choice, he knew there could have been another way to pull off the mission without killing, but he chose to kill; yet she allowed herself to look away and keep herself from doubting the partner she looked up to. All this time later, the Faunus ninja found herself back in another talk about killing, but it was not some attempt to defend the action, it was all coming from a place of concern and care. Luke didn't feel any joy from the decisions he made, experience had taught him that it was painful, and the last thing he wanted was someone he cared about to feel the same pain he felt. He did not want anyone to die, but he knew that sometimes, there was no other choice, and he wanted to make sure his teammate knew that that kind of situation was possible.

Keeping that knowledge of Luke's intention in mind, the Faunus kunoichi looked back to her teammate, a mix of understanding and resilience burning in her eyes, "I understand Luke, but I also need to believe that there will also be times where there's another choice… I hope you can too."

Luke shifted his eyes back to the floor as he took in the girl's words, then he looked back up and gave her as warm a smile as he could muster, "I believe that I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you won't have to make that choice."

He wanted to say something more, but Ruby shot into his gut with her semblance and proceeded to cry into it while hugging him like a teddy bear. After a few more seconds, the earthling found himself stuck in the center of a group hug as Yang, Blake, and eventually, Weiss joined in. While he had been hugged before, the last time he found himself in such heartfelt embraces was a time he could not recall, so he had absolutely no idea what to do, except start his brain back up from its sudden shutdown and hesitantly hug back. They all stayed in the position for a minute, everyone just needing that moment of being together and comforting one another. Once they were all thoroughly soothed, they separated with variously sized smiles.

Luke decided to be the one to break the comfortable silence as he coughed for attention, "First off, thank you, seriously, thank you all. I couldn't be happier that I let myself have friends like you four."

The smiles shined even brighter, "Second, I am really and truly sorry about bringing the whole 'save the world' plan down to some dark levels and ruining it."

Yang just grabbed the sides of the boy's head and brought it across from hers, "No. You didn't ruin anything. You gave us a taste of reality that we all really needed to hear. So don't think for a second that you ruined anything, you probably just saved us instead."

Everyone else in the room smirked as they waited for the two to realize just how few inches separated their faces, who were well satisfied when both looked down to the other's lips before blushing and the earthling slipped out of the brawler's grasp, "And third… what's the first step?"

Serenity was then replaced with confusion, which Luke quickly remedied, "I think we all know you four aren't gonna just back away and stay out of whatever's supposed to come. So if you're going to do this, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you to fend for yourselves, even if I don't know much about this world."

Ruby was ecstatic, and everyone was on board- "On one condition!", or not…

Luke couldn't help but chuckle at the sudden dropping of Ruby's body, "Relax Ruby, I was just going to say that we involve Jack and team JNPR. Otherwise, I'm never gonna hear the end of it from Jack if I leave him out of something again."

"Okay, sounds fair." before she spoke again, the little red reaper brought in a large breath, "AllinfavorofbecomingtheyoungesthuntressesandhuntsmentosinglehandidlybringdownacorruptorganisationconspiringagainsttheKingdomofValesayaye!"

"YES!" the blonde brawler stood up and cheered, "I love it when you're feisty!"

The earthling figured if he were in some anime, he would have sweatdropped at the brawler's declaration, _'Dear God… I have a crush on a female Jack… I just can't get enough of bad jokes and overconfident optimism can I?'_

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." Weiss attempted her version of lightheartedness, making sure there was no more sorrow in the room.

"... None of you said 'aye'." Ruby complained.

Luke smiled as he lifted his hand in the air, "Aye."

The scythe-wielder smiled widely at the action before her eyes widened and she groaned loudly, "GUUUH! I left my board game in the library!"

"We're doomed." the heiress said, her knuckles resting against her forehead.

Ruby rushed back out into the hallway to get the game back from the library, only to run into a girl… with green hair and blood-red eyes, "Owie, sorry about that."

Emerald flashed a fake smile as she held out a hand to pick Ruby up, "I'm fine, just watch where you're going next time."

"You must be more careful; you never know what you can run into without looking forward."

 _'What the hell?'_ Luke recognized the voices as he and the rest of the team went out to the hall, _'I thought they went back to their dorms.'_

"Hello, we're students from Haven Academy." Cinder began to introduce herself until she caught sight of the earthling and smiled as her eyes fluttered, "Oh hello there Luke. It's nice to see you again."

Blake looked between the ebony-haired woman and her new teammate, "You two know each other?"

Luke thought it best not to let Cinder respond first, "Yeah… we just met while Jack and I were walking back from the library. It's, uh… Tinder, right?"

For the briefest of seconds, the eyes of the hidden maiden flashed with annoyance before returning to their fake lust, "Cinder. Cinder Fall and you remember my teammates, Emerald and Mercury, right?"

"We can't be that hard to forget," Mercury scoffed, "I mean, we may not be from some other world or whatever, but I don't think we're that forgettable."

Emerald grinned like a shark about to lunge at its prey as she turned to the assassin, "Not all of us at least."

"Enough you two." their leader reigned them as she took a few steps toward Luke, "Looks like you aren't tired anymore. What do you say you and I get that coffee I suggested, get to know one another~?"

Yang's fists began to tighten, but Luke kept trying to get him and his team out before her hair could light on fire, "Sorry again, but I just came out here with my team because we forgot something in the library. Once we get what we're looking for, I'm planning on going straight to sleep."

It still was not enough as Cinder kept moving forward until her body was a hair's width from his, "Well, perhaps not today, but maybe sometime this week? Say… Friday? We explored Vale for a bit before arriving at the school, and we had found a nice little cafe~."

Still seeing she was not getting anywhere, the seductress decided to go for broke and began to bring her hand to his face, only for it to be grabbed by an almost burning hot hand, from a red-eyed brawler, "Sorry, honey, but our team here has some bonding and exercises to do that day. Especially since Luke only just became a part of our team."

Cinder looked back to the brawler with annoyance, but when she turned back to the earthling, his eyes were still hardened and unmoving, a sure sign it was time to retreat for now, "My apologies. I didn't mean to intrude on anything or disrupt your team's schedule."

She would not retreat without one last surprise attack, however, which came in the form of her finger trailing down his chest and leaning so that her breast could be visible, "Another time then. I'll see you around, Earthling~."

With that, the fake students turned and began to walk back to their dorm room, a mysterious and evil smirk on the leader's face. Once he could see they were long gone, Luke let out a small breath of relief as he stared down the hallway. _'There is definitely something off about that girl… and yet it feels like something familiar… better make sure my teammates and I keep our distance.'_

Ruby did not notice the hardened stare from her new teammate when she turned with a smile, "Wow Luke, looks like you're getting around here just fine if you've met all these people on your own."

The earthling didn't turn to face his little leader when he decided to respond, "Yeah, I guess."

It was only after his response that the rest of the team noticed something off, the heiress deciding to ask, "Luke? Is something wrong?"

That was when he decided to turn and face his teammate, "Yeah, I'm alright, I just… I don't know. I feel like something's off with those three."

"What do you mean?" Ruby was confused, "They seemed pretty nice if a bit strange with you."

Luke scoffed at his leader's innocence shining through, "Yeah. Strange."

Deciding to leave that discussion for later, the team began to walk back to the library, but the earthling grabbed onto Yang's arm before she could start walking, bringing her focus back to him, "Thanks for that. Seriously."

The brawler smiled teasingly, her eyes gone back to their natural lilac, which Luke was glad about, "We are teammates, handsome, we always gotta be there for one another."

"Very true." the earthling agreed as he brought his head down and gave the brawler a chaste kiss on her cheek, "Thanks again, Goldilocks."

For the first time in a long time, the blonde brawler of team RWBY was left speechless and unable to move. She brought her hand up to her cheek and felt it burning up like her hair did when her semblance activated. Shaking her head out of her stupor, she doubled back to the rest of their team as they made their way to the library, her brain however still running rampant, 'Does… does he…'

However, she was not the only one deep in thought, _'I've only been here for a day, and already I've made friends with some awesome people, attracted the attention of someone suspicious, and even develop feelings for someone. No doubt about it, there's definitely something there when I think about Yang, just like how there was a connection when I first met Jack, and look how close we've become. Even more, to add to that, she feels something for me. Whatever it is that we feel for one another, it can't possibly be love yet. It hasn't even been a full day since we first met.'_

Luke looked up to see that the brawler caught up to him and passed him, smiling when they made eye contact, _'One thing's for sure… I care about her. I care about all of them already, but there is something special about her. But we're about to go on some save-the-world mission that could go very wrong in so many ways.'_

He stopped walking and looked down to his feet, "I can't change who I am. I can't think differently. I can't let myself fall into some relationship when I'm about to go to war."

Maybe it was just his "training" from the program back on Earth, perhaps it was his paranoia from so many years on the run, but neither of those was the case, and he knew it. It was his instinct. It was that which kept him and his brother alive for the last seven years. Something big was about to happen, but even Luke had no idea just how big it would be.

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 **A/N's: IT'S STILL ALIVE! I mean, come on, this was and is my first story, I don't want to leave it unfinished. After all, I've got so many awesome plans for the future of this one. As for when you'll be seeing that future... all in due time, my friends... all in due time. Anyways, update times are still going to be sporadic, on account of, well, life. But you have my word, I will try and update this story as regularly as I can, so long as I post chapters of good quality to keep you guys satisfied. With that, special thanks go out to SunWukongMogar and BlackLight181 for being the awesome beta-readers they are. Be sure to let me know what you think, leave some comments, suggestions, constructive criticism, it's always welcome!**

 **Also, some questions for you guys to answer:**

 **Flashbacks of Luke & Jack on Earth - Yes or No?**

 **With my plan for my other story, Hidden Kingdom, I've pretty much decided I won't talk about what we have so far from Volume 6 unless absolutely necessary since, well, the story takes place in another kingdom outside of the canon story. However, should I take what we've learned from episode 3 and integrate that into the story when the time comes, or make my own version of the origins? I wouldn't be ideal for what I've got planned, but I can definitely try to work around it.**

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 **Be sure to let me know what you think about the questions up top, I'd really appreciate it.**

 **'Til next time!**


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